document received by the ca supreme court. · 72 declaration of nikhil ramnaney 4 691 73...
TRANSCRIPT
Case No. S261827
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEYS FOR
CRIMINAL JUSTICE, and YOUTH JUSTICE COALITION,
Petitioners,
v.
GAVIN NEWSOM, California Governor, in His Official Capacity
and XAVIER BECERRA, California Attorney General, in His Official Capacity
Respondents.
PETITIONERS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEYS FOR
CRIMINAL JUSTICE, AND YOUTH JUSTICE COALITION’S APPENDIX OF EXHIBITS VOLUME 4 OF 4 - PAGES 649 - 785
(Additional Counsel Listed on Next Page)
JACOB S. KREILKAMP (State Bar No. 248210) [email protected] WILLIAM D. TEMKO (State Bar No. 98858) [email protected] MELINDA E. LEMOINE (State Bar No. 235670) [email protected] SARA A. McDERMOTT (State Bar No. 307564) [email protected] TREVOR N. TEMPLETON (State Bar No. 308896) [email protected] ESTALYN S. MARQUIS (State Bar No. 329780) [email protected] MUNGER, TOLLES & OLSON LLP 350 South Grand Avenue, Fiftieth Floor, Los Angeles, California 90071-3426 Telephone: (213) 683-9100 Facsimile: (213) 687-3702 Attorneys for Petitioners National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and Youth Justice Coalition
PETER J. ELIASBERG (State Bar No. 189110) [email protected] MELISSA GOODMAN (State Bar No. 289464) [email protected] PETER BIBRING (State Bar No. 223981) [email protected] SYLVIA TORRES-GUILLEN (State Bar No. 164835) [email protected] ARIANA E. RODRIGUEZ (State Bar No. 322701) [email protected] ACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1313 W 8th Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 Tel. 213-977-9500
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CARL TAKEI (State Bar No. 256229) AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 Tel. 646.905.8834 [email protected] CASSANDRA STUBBS (State Bar No. 218849) AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION 201 W. Main Street Durham, NC 27701 Tel. (919) 449-4885 [email protected] JONATHAN MARKOVITZ (State Bar No. 301767), ACLU FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO & IMPERIAL COUNTIES P.O. Box 87131 San Diego, California 92138-7131 Tel. 619.232.2121 Fax. 619.232.0036 [email protected] KATHLEEN GUNERATNE (SBN 250751) [email protected] Shilpi Agarawal (SBN 270749) [email protected] ACLU FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 Tel. 415-621-2493
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TABLE OF EXHIBITS SUPPORTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE
EX. NO. DOCUMENT VOL. PAGE
61 Declaration of Patricia Lee 4 649
62 Declaration of Leandrew Lewis 4 652
63 Declaration of Daniel Macallair 4 655
64 Declaration of Fernando Maldonado 4 657
65 Declaration of Kim McGill 4 660
66 Declaration of Robert Miller 4 670
67 Declaration of David Muhammad 4 673
68 Declaration of Stephen Munkelt 4 680
69 Declaration of Joshua Neal 4 683
70 Declaration of Adam Nelson 4 687
71 Declaration of Manohar Raju 4 689
72 Declaration of Nikhil Ramnaney 4 691
73 Declaration of Sara Ross 4 692
74 Declaration of Mark Saatjian (for Christian Menth)
4 694
75 Declaration of Mark Saatjian (for Isael Elenes) 4 696
76 Declaration of Maartin Sabelli 4 698
77 Declaration of Jose Saravia 4 702
78 Declaration of Randal Scott 4 704
79 Declaration of Avantika Shastri 4 709
80 Declaration of Matthew Speredelozzi 4 711
81 Declaration of Nick Stewart-Oaten 4 714
82 Declaration of Cassandra Stubbs 4 716
83 Declaration of Erica Sutherland 4 719
84 Declaration of Irma Vargas 4 721
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EX. NO. DOCUMENT VOL. PAGE
85 Declaration of Benito Venegas 4 723
86 Declaration of Dylan Verner-Crist 4 726
87 Declaration of Christine Voss 4 729
88 Declaration of Leonard Wakefield 4 733
89 Declaration of Sean S. Wells 4 736
90 Declaration of Brendon Woods 4 741
91 Declaration of DeNeal Young 4 745
92 Declaration of Marianne Zawadzki 4 750
93 Declaration of Angel Zepeda 4 752
94 Declaration of Veronica Pratt 4 763
95 Consent Order, In the Matter of the Request to Commute or Suspend County Jail Sentences, N.J. Sup. Ct. No. 084230 (Mar. 22, 2020)
4 766
96 Curriculum Vitae of Joe Goldenson, M.D. 4 780
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PROOF OF SERVICE
At the time of service, I was over 18 years of age and not a party to this action. I am employed in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. My business address is 350 South Grand Avenue, Fiftieth Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071-3426.
On April 24, 2020, I served true copies of the following document(s) described as
PETITIONERS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEYS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE,
AND YOUTH JUSTICE COALITION’S APPENDIX OF EXHIBITS VOLUME 4 OF4 - PAGES 649 - 785
on the interested parties in this action as follows:
SEE ATTACHED SERVICE LIST
BY ELECTRONIC SERVICE: I electronically filed the document(s) with the Clerk of the Court by using the TrueFiling system. Participants in the case who are registered TrueFiling users will be served by the TrueFiling system. Participants in the case who are not registered TrueFiling users will be served by email as listed in the service list.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on April 24, 2020, at Los Angeles, California.
______________________ Anna Velasquez
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SERVICE LIST
Xavier Becerra State of California Department of Justice 1300 I Street, Suite 1740 Sacramento, CA 95814-2954 [email protected]
Via Email
Governor Gavin Newsom 1303 10th Street, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-2841 Kelli [email protected] David Sapp, [email protected] Alisa Hartz, [email protected]
Via Email
Office of the Clerk California Supreme Court 350 McAllister Street, Room 1295 San Francisco, CA 94102-3600
Not required until further notice from the court.
ACLU Foundation of Southern California Peter J Eliasberg (SBN 189110) Melissa Goodman (SBN 289464) Peter Bibring (SBN 223981) Sylvia Torres-Guillen (SBN 164835) Ariana E. Rodriguez (SBN 322701) 1313 W 8th Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 213-977-9500 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Via Email
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American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Carl Takei (CA SBN 256229) 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 646.905.8834 [email protected] Cassandra Stubbs (CA SBN 218849) 201 W. Main Street Durham, NC 27701 (919) 449-4885 [email protected]
Via Email Via Email
ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties Jonathan Markovitz (SBN 301767) P.O. Box 87131 San Diego, California 92138-7131 Telephone: 619.232.2121, Fax: 619.232.0036 [email protected]
Via Email
ACLU Foundation of Northern California Kathleen Guneratne (SBN 250751) Shilpi Agarwal (SBN 270749) ACLU Foundation of Northern California 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 621-2493 [email protected] [email protected]
Via Email
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DECLARATION OF PATRICIA LEE
I, Patricia Lee, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and information
derived from my position as the Deputy Public Defender for the San Francisco Public Defender’s
Office. If called to testify I could and would do so competently as follows:
2. I am licensed to practice law in the state of California. I have been a Deputy
Public Defender in San Francisco for nearly 30 years. I am the managing attorney for the
Juvenile Division of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. I am the Chairperson of the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors Committee to Close Juvenile Hall, and also serve on the Mayor’s
Blue Ribbon Committee to Reform the Juvenile Justice System.
3. As the managing attorney for the Juvenile Division of the San Francisco Public
Defender’s Office, my responsibilities include direct supervision of attorneys, social workers,
investigators, paralegals, clerical, and community programming in the Bayview and Western
Addition of San Francisco. I also provide training opportunities for our attorneys to ensure that
they are MCLE compliant to be appointed to represent youth in juvenile court.
4. During the health emergency, fundamental educational and rehabilitative
programs in juvenile detention facilities have completely halted, despite rehabilitation being the
central goal of the juvenile justice system. 1 For example, community-based organizations, which
typically provide our young persons with positive programming, social-emotional services, and
1 Many counties have not significantly reduced spending on juvenile detention, despite data
reflecting a dramatic reduction in violent crime by young people in California over the last 20
years. Further, over the past eight years, the annual cost of incarcerating a youth in juvenile hall
in California has doubled to an average of $284,700. Jill Tucker and Joaquin Palomino,
“Vanishing Violence: Juvenile hall costs skyrocket,” San Francisco Chronicle (April 26, 2019),
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Vanishing-Violence-Cost-of-locking-up-a-youth-in-
13793488.php. When adding indirect expenditures, such as administrative and maintenance
costs, San Francisco probation officials determined that the city’s annual price to incarcerate a
youth last year was $374,000, which is significantly higher than the overall state average. Id.
These are high costs not only for California, but for our youth, who currently lack access to the
rehabilitative programming they are due.
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mentorship, are currently barred both from visiting facilities and video- or tele-communicating
with youth. The loss of this channel of support, compounded with the inability to receive family
visits, is not only devastating and traumatic for our youth, but reinforces feelings of mistrust and
loneliness, likely evaporating any progress made prior to the emergency.
5. Detained youth with existing mental health issues have been hit particularly hard
by the isolating effects of the emergency. As programming ceases and the juvenile hall attempts
to comply with social distancing guidelines, young people are spending longer periods in
isolation.
6. It has been brought to my attention that youth who may be ill are quarantined in
their cells until their symptoms subside. This has created panic amongst the youth and their
families fearing their children will be infected with the COVID-19 virus. During the “Shelter in
Place” order, a detained girl was the only female held in detention for nine days in the girl’s unit.
Without any educational or community based programming, and the lack of social contact with
any peers, her detention during those nine days was solitary confinement by default.
7. On April 2, 2020, Governor Newsom announced that schools would be closing,
likely for the remainder of the school year, but that our children’s educations would continue
through alternatives, like distance learning plans. Many youth across the state now receive
education via online instruction or comprehensive school packets provided to students at home.
However, this shift has revealed a critical gap – for all students to continue to receive meaningful
instruction, internet and Wi-Fi access is essential.2
8. At present, there are many young people in the halls who lack access to internet,
laptops, and other basic technology that would allow them to continue their educations. As a
result of the shift to distance learning, significant challenges have also presented themselves for
students who rely on interventions, accommodations, and specialized instruction to support their
2 See Sydney Johnson, “Thousands of California students still without laptops and Wi-Fi for
distance learning,” EdSource (April 7, 2020), https://edsource.org/2020/thousands-of-california-
students-still-without-laptops-and-wi-fi-for-distance-learning/628395 (discussing the cruciality
of internet access for all students and quoting the State Superintendent’s position that “every
student should have access to the internet”).
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learning needs. Youth are not receiving their individualized accommodations required through
their Individual Education Plans in detention and those with mental health disabilities are
deteriorating in custody.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the United
States that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 22nd day of April, 2020 in San
Francisco, California.
____________________________________
Patricia Lee
Managing Attorney, Juvenile Unit
San Francisco Public Defenders Office
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DECLARATION OF LEANDREW LEWIS -1-
DECLARATION OF LEANDREW LEWIS
I, Leandrew Lewis, certify under penalty of perjury that the following statement is true
and correct pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746.
1. My name is Leandrew Lewis. I am 28 years old and incarcerated in the
North County Correctional Facility in Los Angeles County.
2. I am diabetic, and I have had high blood pressure for years. I also suffer
from bronchitis whenever I get a cold. When that happens, I have trouble breathing
unless I use an inhaler.
3. I have been incarcerated awaiting trial since November 13, 2019. The
reason I am incarcerated is because my family and I are too poor to afford the bail
amount in my case.
4. I have been trying to defend my innocence, and my attorney and I are ready
to go to trial. The trial was scheduled for today, April 13. But I was not taken to court,
and when my lawyer went to court in Antelope Valley today the judge said the trial date
had been moved to June 11. I am worried they will keep delaying my trial and I will be
stuck here. I want to take my case to trial and prove my innocence, but I am terrified I
will get infected with the coronavirus while I wait for that in jail.
5. It is impossible for me to protect myself from being infected with the
coronavirus while in jail. I am currently confined in a dorm along with 60 or so other
people, packed too close to keep distance from each other. On or around the week of
April 13, 2020, for reasons that were not explained to us, the deputies moved the 30 or so
people in my previous dorm, including me, into another dorm that already had about 30
other people living there. We are now all housed in a dorm that has about 66 beds. This
new dorm is almost filled to capacity. The movement may have been related to the fact
that almost all the dorms near me have stickers on the front that say “no movement in or
out”, which I think means that that the dorms are in quarantine for COVID-19.
6. I sleep on the bottom bunk, below two other inmates. The bunks are
separated only by a couple feet from each other. The bunks are so close that if I reach an
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DECLARATION OF LEANDREW LEWIS -2-
arm out on either side of the bunk, I can immediately touch the next person. We spend
our time within arm’s reach of each other.
7. We were provided brown cloth masks on or around April 16, 2020 and told
by the deputy to wear it only when leaving the dorm. Deputies have not provided hand
sanitizers or masks. People are regularly coughing and sneezing in the dorm within a few
feet of me, including the people in the beds that surround me.
8. Everyone in the dorm shares showers and urinals. There is no professional
cleaning of the shared showers. There is a mop bucket near the showers that has some
kind of soap in it, but the showers are not cleaned between uses.
9. The jail collects our laundry about once a month or so. Until that happens,
we have to keep using the same uniforms, sheets, and the single towel we are given. All
these items come in close contact with other people, but I am unable to keep them clean.
The last time I received clean laundry was the end of March or so.
10. I do not know have much information about coronavirus because the jail has
not been telling us much anything. Every day or so, the jail plays recorded video that
mentions coronavirus and says there are no positive cases in the facility. It is the same
recorded video they keep playing.
11. I try to watch out for people who are sick and avoid them best I can. I don’t
want to get sick and I am trying to protect myself. But the truth is I’m not able to keep
distant from others here in the jail.
12. At least three times in the past few weeks, I have seen people who have a
cough or cold symptoms in my dorm go out with a medical pass to obtain medical
treatment, and then they did not return. They might be infected with coronavirus, but I
do not know because no one tells us. They don’t let us know anything.
/ / /
/ / /
/ / /
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DECLARATION OF LEANDREW LEWIS -3-
13. If I was released from jail, I could stay with my family. I would stay with
my mom, and my sister and other family could pick me up or arrange for someone to do
that. If I wasn’t in jail, I would be able to quarantine. But in here, I know I am at risk of
getting sick, and I am very afraid. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California and the
United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 18th day of
April 2020, in Los Angeles, California. Leandrew Lewis
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Daniel Macallair Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 424 Guerrero Street, Suite A San Francisco, CA 94110
DECLARATION OF DANIEL MACALLAIR
I, Daniel Macallair, hereby declare:
1. I am the Executive Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, a nonprofit direct service and policy organization based in San Francisco, CA.
2. I serve as a Practitioner-in-Residence in the Department of Criminal Justice Studies at San Francisco State University, teaching courses on juvenile and adult corrections policy.
3. With over thirty years of experience in the juvenile justice field, I have conducted extensive research on conditions of confinement and implemented model community corrections programs across the country.
4. I make this declaration based on my expertise and personal experience.
5. The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating shortcomings in youth detention and confinement, including deficits in rehabilitation, healthcare, safety, and other conditions of confinement.1
6. Youth in juvenile facilities are exposed to traumatizing conditions2 and rely on contact with family, socializing with peers, school, and programming to support their well-being.
7. However, precautionary measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 include halting family visits, in-person schooling, and rehabilitative programs.
8. Decreased programming and limits on contact with loved ones hinder the foundational elements for rehabilitation, a primary goal of the juvenile justice system.
9. Epidemiologists warn that juvenile facilities are likely to experience dangerous COVID-19 outbreaks and recent research indicates that the virus may pose a greater risk of severe illness to young people than scientists once thought.3,4,5
1 Washburn, M. & Menart (2020). A Blueprint for Reform: Moving Beyond California’s Failed Youth Correctional System. At: http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/blueprint_for_reform.pdf. 2 Abram, K.M., Teplin, L.A., Longworth, S.L., McClelland, G.M., & Dulcan, M.K. (2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder and trauma in youth in juvenile detention. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61(4), 403-410. 3 Miller, L. (2020). Youth in detention should be released to reduce coronavirus risk, advocates say. At: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-17/fearing-harmful-effects-of-virus-juvenile-justice-attorneys-push-for-clients-release. 4 Dong, Y., et al. (2020). Epidemiological Characteristics of 2143 Pediatric Patients With 2019 Coronavirus Disease in China. At: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2020/03/16/peds.2020-0702.full.pdf. 5 Belluck, P. Younger adults make up big portion of coronavirus hospitalizations in the U.S. At: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/health/coronavirus-young-people.html.
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10. Immediate action is required to safeguard youth in juvenile facilities—including county juvenile halls, camps, and ranches, as well as the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)—which are unable to ensure youth’s safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
11. It is critical that youth in state-run DJJ facilities be included in protective actions for all youth in California’s juvenile facilities.
12. Youth in DJJ facilities are highly susceptible to contagious illnesses given the facilities’ structural deficiencies. Large populations exceeding 150 youth6 are being held in decaying and unsanitary buildings.7
13. Youth in DJJ facilities have daily physical contact with one another, particularly in dangerous open dormitory units,8 and are subjected to substandard conditions within their living units, including communal bathroom areas.
14. California must act now to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect youth from the harm of isolation and violence, which may worsen amid the current crisis.
15. We must ensure the health and safety of youth currently in all juvenile facilities by (1) indefinitely halting all new admissions, and (2) releasing all youth to return home or to transition into non-congregate residential placements, with particular expediency for youth who are medically vulnerable or already nearing their anticipated release date.
I declare that the above information in true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Executed this 23rd day of April, 2020.
____________________________________
Daniel Macallair
Executive Director, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
6 National standards set a maximum population of 150 youth in juvenile facilities. See: American Correctional Association (ACA). (2003). Standards for Juvenile Correctional Facilities. 7 Washburn, M. & Menart (2019). Unmet Promises: Continued Violence and Neglect in California’s Division of Juvenile Justice. At: http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/unmet_promises_continued_violence_and_neglect_in_california_division_of_juvenile_justice.pdf 8 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). (1994). Conditions of Confinement: Juvenile Detention and Corrections Facilities. At: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/1FrontMat.pdf.
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DECLARATION OF FERNANDO A. MALDONADO
I, Fernando A. Maldonado, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and if called to testify I
could and would do so competently as follows:
2. I am 30 years old.
3. I am currently housed at the Theo Lacy Facility (“Theo Lacy”), which is part of the
Orange County Jail in Orange, California.
4. I have been in Orange County Sheriff’s Department (“OCSD”) custody since about
January 31, 2020.
5. I am in custody for a technical probation violation for failure to appear for a probation
meeting.
6. My sentence was 180 days, which means I will likely serve 90 days in custody.
7. My release date is April 29, 2020.
8. I am currently housed in a two-person cell with another individual. The cell we share is
about six by ten feet. It contains two beds (bunk bed style), a toilet, sink and drinking fountain
combination, a table and two stools.
9. It is not possible for me and my cellmate to maintain six feet distance from each other
when we are in our cell, which is for most of the day, about 21 hours.
10. Our cell is so crammed we often take turns being out of our bed. We call it floor time.
During my floor time, he stays on his bed, and I stay on mine during his floor time to avoid
getting in each other’s way. Even then it is impossible for us to be six feet away from each
other.
11. I have the top bunk and he has the bottom bunk. When we sleep, we are about two to
three feet away from each other. Our bunks are so close that we can reach other’s bunk when we
lay down.
12. We eat our three meals a day in our cell.
13. As of April 17, there are about 19 people in our housing sector, including me and my
cellmate. Our housing sector is made up of 16 two-person cells. Eight cells on the top tier and
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eight cells on the bottom tier. Seven two-person cells are occupied by two people, five two-
person cells are occupied by an individual person, and four two-person cells are empty.
14. On average, I share a dayroom and two showers with 18 other people who are housed in
the same housing sector. Custody staff runs dayroom four cells at a time, which means between
four to eight people at once. However, the dayroom, including showers and telephones are used
by up to 19 people each day. This concerns me because there is limited access to cleaning
supplies throughout the day.
15. I am not able to maintain six feet distance from other people when I am on the
telephone. We have four telephones available in our sector. The telephones are about two feet
away from each other. I try to wipe down the phone before I use it to be careful about the spread
of germs and possibly COVID-19.
16. Custody staff provides us with a single bar of soap per week. The soap runs out within
three days. When I run out, I ask other people in custody for supplies or rinse my hands and
shower with only water.
17. Custody staff provided us with torn sheets to use as face coverings. I wash it every night
to maintain cleanliness, sometimes with only water.
18. I do not have access to hand sanitizer.
19. I do not have access to gloves.
20. I have Hepatitis C. I contracted it about five years ago while in the custody of the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”).
21. I have a history of childhood asthma. I had moderate asthma from the ages of 5 to 16.
22. I have a 17-year history of smoking cannabis. I started smoking when I was 13 years
old. I also started using vape pens about 8 or 9 years ago to smoke cannabis.
23. As of today, I have 12 days remaining on my sentence. I do not understand why I have
not been released early.
24. I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the United
States that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.
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25. Because of the coronavirus, and my confinement, I was not able to sign this declaration
in person. The declaration was read to me, over the phone, by Jacob Reisberg on April 17, 2020.
I understood and verified its contents in full, and authorized Jacob Reisberg to sign the
declaration on my behalf. Executed on April 17, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
___/s/ Jacob Reisberg___________________
Signed by Jacob Reisberg on behalf of Fernando A. Maldonado
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DECLARATION OF KIM MCGILL
I, Kim McGill, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and information
derived from the Youth Justice Coalition (YJC), its membership, and resources. If called to
testify I could and would do so competently as follows:
2. I am an Organizer at YJC and also one of 62 co-founders. I have worked at YJC
since its inception seventeen years ago.
3. YJC is a petitioner in this litigation.
4. YJC is a non-profit corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State
of California. YJC was founded in 2003 with the mission of building a movement led by system-
involved youth, families, and currently and formerly incarcerated people to challenge race,
gender, and class inequality in Los Angeles County’s and California’s juvenile and criminal
court and custody systems.
5. YJC brings together incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth and adults,
family members, and the larger community to build leadership, improve conditions of
confinement in California, dismantle harmful law enforcement policies and practices, and
challenge LA’s and California’s addiction to incarceration. We use direct action organizing,
public policy development, advocacy, public education, and media messaging to bring about
change at the municipal, county, state, and, occasionally, at the national level.
6. YJC operates a community center and high school in South Central Los Angeles
that is a free alternative to incarceration and a re-entry resource for people who are under
probation supervision, who have to meet court-ordered conditions and/or programs, or who are
returning home from juvenile halls, camps, jails, and youth and adult prisons. YJC’s High
School, in operation for over eight years, serves as an experiential organizing training program
that also provides comprehensive, full-day, educational programs for youth aged 15-24 who have
been pushed out of other schools, or are returning to the community from juvenile halls, camps,
jails, and prisons.
7. To prevent and reduce the impact of system contact, YJC holds bi-monthly free
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legal clinics and provides participatory defense/court support to hundreds of people and their
families each year in juvenile court, criminal court, traffic court, civil court, and immigration
court. We also train more than 2,000 youth, parents, teachers, and community members yearly
on what to do when stopped or contacted by law enforcement or Immigration, Customs, and
Enforcement (ICE).
8. YJC has fought and led, alongside diverse coalitions, to dismantle deeply rooted
systemic racism, oppression, discrimination, and mass-incarceration, including school push-out
and over-criminalization of youth, especially youth of color. YJC envisions a society where,
among other things, all youth receive their human rights to youth development, transformative
justice, and a comprehensive and holistic system of supports, including a quality education that
prepares everyone for college and/or a career.
9. YJC engages in statewide and local coalition building to (a) end the “war on
gangs,” or, more accurately, a war on youth and communities of color, (b) work with loved ones
that have been killed by law enforcement, (c) end gang databases, gang injunctions, gang
enhancements, and crimmigration, and (d) challenge the forced merging of the yards by the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
10. YJC is deeply involved in statewide legislation to further the mission and policy
focuses referenced above. This includes advocacy in Sacramento, with legislators, and with
agency heads like CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz. YJC is also a key partner in statewide coalitions
like the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and the California Alliance for Youth and
Community Justice and in national coalitions like All of Us or None, the Alliance for
Educational Justice, the National Juvenile Justice Network, the Community Justice Network for
Youth, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, and the National Dignity in Schools
Campaign to secure a transformative justice model for youth.
11. I have extensive personal, organizing and advocacy experience in what is referred
to as the juvenile “justice” system. Like other YJC members, staff, and teachers, I, and members
of my family, have first-hand experience with arrest, court, detention and incarceration. This
work is essential for my own survival and progress, that of our families, our members, and our
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community.
12. YJC is a membership organization with more than 23,000 system-involved youth,
families, formerly incarcerated people, and allied organizations throughout California. In
addition, YJC has more than 4,000 members inside the state’s prison system.
13. The COVID-19 crisis has generated substantial concerns for our members given
the effect on their health and safety, as well as their due process rights, consistent with their state
and federal constitutional rights. Mass incarceration, including mass incarceration of people of
color, has also generated profound concerns about the disparate impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
The over-criminalization and pushout of youth of color from schools and into the juvenile and
criminal system has ensured that these same youth are now most at risk for exposure to the virus
and are also being denied access to the resources, preventive measures, and treatment needed to
survive it. Thus, addressing the immediate needs and rights of youth in carceral facilities during
this national pandemic is at the core of our mission.
14. The COVID-19 virus directly affects YJC members, including by placing
members, their families, and communities at heightened risk of infection when they are detained
in juvenile halls, camps, out-of-home placements, or juvenile prisons, all facilities where social
distancing is difficult or impossible to implement, where medical care was already often sorely
inadequate, where rehabilitative programs and education have come to a devastating halt, and
where full day lockdown and isolation exacerbate the unacceptable trauma already inflicted on
youth. YJC is engaging in a community effort and movement to release youth and create humane
policies that address and dismantle the failed response by officials to protect the health, due
process rights and the lives of young people in their facilities. YJC is helping members advocate
for members’ health and safety in the context of COVID-19.
15. Contacted early on by people who were locked up and the families of people
inside, YJC has also created and disseminated best practices in the context of COVID-19,
compiling resources related to COVID-19 advocacy, including information, letters, declarations,
documents, and other court papers related to COVID-19. YJC has mobilized our membership of
youth and families along with organizations to organize and advocate for the release of youth
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from juvenile facilities, with the aim of helping youth, including medically vulnerable youth, get
out of halls, camps, and other juvenile facilities, while also improving conditions in juvenile
facilities where the risk from COVID-19 is high. YJC’s advocacy includes reaching out to and
seeking prompt and effective solutions from statewide leaders like Governor Gavin Newsom, his
staff, California’s senators and assemblymembers, Senate and Assembly committee chairs, to
local leaders, including the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles County Office of
Education, the Los Angeles County Probation Chief, Deputy Chiefs and Sheriff, District
Attorney Jackie Lacey, and many more.
16. In addition, YJC is mobilizing communities, coordinating public forums, car
rallies, social media, and outreach to mainstream media to push state and county officials to
address COVID-19’s devastating impact on youth in juvenile facilities. Over 100 participants
attended each of the first two public forums on March 25th and April 8th. In each online event,
state and local officials were invited to address the community’s critical concerns about the
impact of COVID-19 on youth in juvenile facilities, as well as to share their office’s efforts to
protect and release young people.
17. YJC members include current and formerly detained or incarcerated youth and
adults throughout California who:
• Fit within the Center for Disease Control’s definition of people medically vulnerable
to COVID-19, because
o they suffer from underlying health conditions (such as chronic lung disease,
asthma, HIV, immunocompromised, severe obesity, and diabetes) that place
them at heightened risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
• Are serving terms in juvenile facilities.
• Are being detained in juvenile facilities because they had been released on probation,
but have been picked up on technical violations of their conditions (for example,
conduct that violates the conditions of probation but would not otherwise constitute a
criminal offense, such as a failure to report, failure to appear for or failure to pass a
required drug test, failure to complete community service in an allotted time, failure
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to attend school or counseling, or failure to maintain a certain GPA).
18. Through my work with YJC, I regularly learn about our members’ concerns and
questions. In addition, I co-coordinate the YJC’s free legal clinic twice a month and provide
participatory defense to families and defendants, attending court with people an average of 8
times a month. As such, I receive dozens of calls, texts, and letters each week from youth and
adults who are detained or incarcerated, as well as from family members.
19. In my role at YJC, it is clear that there is an incredible public need to address the
conditions in juvenile facilities to ensure that COVID-19 does not continue to spread and put
young people’s health and lives at dire risk.
20. My own experience confirms what experts have stated – that juvenile facilities are
not designed, constructed, or managed in ways that readily allow social distancing or other
protective measures, and that even juvenile facilities that take some precautions do not or cannot
follow protections regularly.
21. For example, during the week of March 9th, I received numerous panicked
communications from parents whose children were in Probation custody at juvenile halls and
camps. They had received little to no information about the COVID-19 virus from Probation, and
were deeply concerned about the health and safety of their children. At least one parent
expressed great concern because of her past experience with Probation, who failed to handle a
wildfire evacuation crisis at Sylmar (Barry J. Nidorf) Juvenile Hall in a timely and humane
manner. In that instance, and again under the COVID-19 pandemic, according to families, youth
with asthma and other respiratory illnesses did not receive masks, preventive care, or treatment,
even when they exhibited difficulty breathing.
22. Over the years, I have seen diseases that had been mostly eradicated or were
easily treated in the general population sweep through county and state carceral facilities with
devastating and deadly consequences, including staph infections, tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis,
and Valley Fever.
23. I began to lodge complaints related to COVID-19 concerns and have had
conversations with officials regularly, including the Inspector General’s Office.
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24. During the week of March 9th, the calls I received from people in jails, prisons,
and juvenile halls and camps and prisons also started to include questions about COVID-19 and
complaints that the Probation Department, Sheriff’s Department, county officials, and the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were not sharing any information about
the virus, how it is contracted, or how best to protect oneself in a carceral setting, and facilities
were not giving people greater access to hygiene, hand sanitizer, disinfectant and cleaning
supplies. Call after call revealed the same experience – that people were only learning about
COVID-19 from calls with family and friends or from the TV news.
25. Many of the youth in halls and camps are being locked up without programming
and are there for 707a charges, or probation violations.
26. In the midst of the most dangerous pandemic experienced in more than 100 years,
California’s most vulnerable youth have been abandoned by the very public agencies responsible
for their care. They are denied visits. They receive few phone calls home. Many are locked up
for hours in an unhygienic cell. They are denied education. And yet, they are grouped together to
eat and shower. They share communal spaces. In many facilities, youth sleep in large and
crowded dorms. They are deprived of hand sanitizer, soaps and regular access to water. Caging
people at all times is inhumane. Caging people during a pandemic is deadly. Young people have
a human right to programs that are rooted in comprehensive youth development, trauma
informed, and focus on healing and transformative justice. Instead, California youth, in conflict
with the law, are trapped in systems that exacerbate trauma and harm.
27. As described above, throughout the COVID-19 crisis, YJC has communicated
with family members whose loved ones are locked up, and we have been on phone calls with
people in custody. These events and conversations raise consistent concerns as to the inability of
county officials to quickly assess and release people, or to uphold the health, safety, and due
process rights of youth and adults in custody or in court.
28. The mother of a son who is detained at Barry J. Nidorf (Sylmar) Juvenile Hall has
communicated to me that her son has only received one call a week using the payphones.
Recently, in his unit, the payphone was broken, so he could not get in contact with his mother.
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Court hearings are being cancelled and postponed. Parents and guardians are panicked each time
they call that a young person could be infected.
29. One parent reported that, at the Barry J. Nidorf facility’s unit for youth transferred
to adult court known as “the compound,” young people are being locked in their cells for hours
each afternoon. They are getting some educational packets, but her son has little to occupy his
time and his mind.
30. Parents are sharing that youth are “going crazy” and “have nothing to do.” Youth
complain that they have “no puzzles, no books, no notepaper, no coloring books or crayons.”
Until very recently, youth have had no masks. Even in the few circumstances we have heard that
a mask was provided, this has not happened in all of the juvenile facilities, nor have any youth
that we know received more than one mask during this entire period. They may occasionally get
hand sanitizer only if they ask staff and staff chooses to provide it, and then only a few drops in
their hand. They have to ask to use the bathroom and are often ignored. So regularly washing
hands is not possible. When cells are locked, sometimes people pee on their floor or into a sheet
out of desperation.
31. At Eastlake Juvenile Hall, parents and youth were afraid. They were seeing the
news of staff testing positive at Sylmar and 21 youth being under quarantine. Now at least two
staff have tested positive and more than 40 youth have been quarantined at Sylmar. Families
were not getting updates from Probation. But what they know, they get from the news or rumors
shared with them from their children inside. We heard from parents that youth had been moved
from Sylmar to Eastlake (Central Juvenile Hall), causing some panic among the youth and staff
at Eastlake given the COVID-19 outbreak at Sylmar.
32. A parent whose son is at Camp Kilpatrick was concerned that her son, who was
serving the minimum camp term of 5-7 months, has been at the facility since January. This was
his first conviction, and she wonders why he hasn’t been released. At probation camps, social
distancing is impossible in the small dorm-like facilities. The youth had no access to online
learning, despite the fact that the facility has computers with Internet for all the youth. The youth
there had no masks or access to sanitizer.
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33. Although still in court pre-disposition or pre-sentencing, youth who turn 18 are
being transferred from juvenile hall to county jail. One youth recently transferred to Wayside –
Pitchess Detention Center, North Facility – and is in a dorm with 96 people. There is no social
distancing. A YJC member detained in that same dorm called to say that there is nothing you can
use to clean phones, tables, bathrooms, chess pieces, playing cards, and other items that are
touched hundreds of times each day without any disinfecting. They do not get disinfectant or
additional cleaning supplies. He reported, “You can get Clorox wipes and cough drops if
someone from outside buys you a package. But those are small quantities and only last for a few
days. We take the cleaning solution that comes into the dorm each morning for us to mop the
floors, add water to it, and distribute it to everyone in bottles. That’s how we stretch cleaning
supplies. For the first time yesterday, the staff came in with masks on. We have no masks. The
deputies told us, 'Don't panic. We are doing this for your protection.' A lot of people are sick here
- coughing, sneezing, runny noses - but no one is getting removed or tested that I see. If you ask
for medical help, you don't get a real check-up. Also, people are scared to say they are sick,
because they are afraid they will be sent to the hole. Some people are being released with court
dates. But, I still see a lot of people here with low charges - like an 18-year-old who is here on
vandalism charges."
34. In response to the calls directly from jails and prisons, parents’ calls and texts
about juvenile halls and camps, my experiences reaching out to officials to support people in
custody, going with people to court, and the rising numbers of infections both in LA’s court and
detention systems, and in facilities throughout California, YJC took a number of actions to try to
change local and statewide policies and practices.
35. YJC has engaged in a comprehensive state-wide advocacy effort to (a) demand
release of all youth detained on status offenses, misdemeanors, low-level felonies, probation
violations, and bench warrants, (b) stop new detentions for these offenses and transfers to
juvenile halls, camps, and out-of-home placements, (c) petition the court to review all other cases
for release, (d) end the collection of all system fees and fines to avoid violations for nonpayment
and to recognize the challenge in paying any fees with the stay at home requirement, (e) ensure
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access to quality education for youth in custody, (f) end transfers to ICE, (g) end transfers from
juvenile halls to jails, and (h) ensure free phone calls, stamps, masks and disinfectant for all.
36. YJC has also engaged in a media campaign to attract local and statewide attention
to this matter. YJC organized press conferences, issued letters to officials, mobilized hundreds of
messages to officials through social media, organized a car rally that included hundreds of cars
surrounding the DA’s office and largest superior court in Los Angeles County, all in order to
raise attention and demand the release of youth from juvenile halls, camps and county jails.
37. Frustrated by the courts’, the District Attorney’s, the Probation Department’s,
state legislators’, and the governor’s unresponsiveness and failure to address the dire impact
COVID-19 has had on youth, I proposed an online community forum with officials to create
public updates, ensure greater transparency and accountability, and enable dialogue between
officials and the media, community organizations, organizers, advocates, formerly detained and
incarcerated people, and families. I worked with other YJC members as well as with Public
Counsel, the ACLU of Southern California, and Loyola Law School and coordinated two online
forums as described earlier – each attended by more than 100 people.
38. Despite these state and county efforts, the governor, the courts, the county
prosecutors and other officials, and the probation departments, have not released a reasonable
number of people from juvenile halls and camps, not taken the steps necessary to uphold the
health, safety, access to education and access to family through free phone calls and stamps; and
not upheld the due process rights of young people.
39. It is unconscionable that the richest state in the nation and the 5th richest economy
in the world is not protecting its young people and their families during the most significant
health emergency of our time.
//
//
//
//
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I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the United
States that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 17th day of April, 2020 in Los
Angeles, California.
Kim McGill Organizer Youth Justice Coalition
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DECLARATION OF ROBERT MILLER
I, Robert Miller, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and if called to testify I
could and would do so competently as follows:
2. I have been in custody in the Yuba County Jail since January 24, 2020.
3. I am 30 years old.
4. I have a serious lung condition called spontaneous pneumothorax, which is collapsing of
the lung. I also have been experiencing chest and back pain since I have been in jail. On one
occasion, two or three weeks ago, I had symptoms of spontaneous pneumothorax including
difficulty breathing, chest and back pains, and high blood pressure. Jail medical staff were so
concerned about these symptoms and the results of an EKG test that I was taken from the jail to
a local emergency room. At the ER they ran tests including x-rays and an ultrasound. I was
treated and released at the ER after about 4 to 5 hours, but was told to return if my symptoms
persisted. Subsequent to this ER visit, I have continued to suffer similar symptoms, including
chest and back pain, but the jail medical staff has been dismissive of my complaints. Before I
was transferred to the ER an officer came within inches of me, in order to place shackles on me.
Neither of us was wearing a mask.
5. On April 3, 2020, I was convicted following a plea of no contest to charges of domestic
violence and driving a vehicle in violation of Vehicle Code § 10851(a). It is my understanding
that my scheduled release date is currently July 18, 2020.
6. In custody I am housed in a double cell about the size of a parking space. I had a cell
partner until April 9, 2020, when he was released. It is possible that another person could be
housed in my cell again.
7. Up until last week, when I had a cell partner, we shared a toilet and sink in our cell.
There is not six feet of free space in the cell and it is impossible for me to stay six feet away
from my cell partner, should another one be assigned while I am confined here.
8. I share a dayroom and showers with about 30 people on average who are housed in the
same housing area, D-pod.
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9. On some occasions, when our cells are locked down, we eat meals in our cells. At other
times, currently about twice a week, I eat meals with 4 to 5 other people in a common area of D-
pod. At these times, there is not six feet of space between us. We are given six hours of time
outside our cells when we are allowed in the common area of D-pod, with about 15 or 16 other
people. There is no realistic possibility of physical distancing of at least six feet during this out-
of-cell time.
10. I do not have access to gloves.
11. Other than Windex, I do not have access to cleaning supplies, including disinfectant.
12. I do not have access to hand sanitizer.
13. The only reason I have sufficient soap to wash my hands regularly is because I purchase
it with my own funds from the jail commissary. One bar of Dove soap costs $2.50.
14. Although we have requested face coverings, I am not provided with a mask or other face
covering.
15. I have not received instruction from custody staff about how we can protect ourselves
from COVID-19.
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16. I am concerned about my health and the risks COVID-19 pose to my life. I know that
COVID-19 can cause severe respiratory problems and even death for people like me who have
pulmonary conditions.
17. I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the United
States that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Because of the coronavirus, and my confinement, I was not able to sign this declaration in
person. The declaration was read to me, over the telephone, by my attorney, Carter White,
with Peter Eliasberg on the phone with us on April 15, 2020. I understood and verified its
contents in full, and authorized Peter Eliasberg to sign the declaration on my behalf.
Executed on April 15, 2020, in Marysville, California.
________________________________________
Signed by Peter Eliasberg, SBN 189110 on behalf of Robert Miller
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1 Declaration of David Muhammad
DECLARATION OF DAVID MUHAMMAD
I, David Muhammad, declare as follows:
1. I am the Executive Director of the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, based in Oakland, California. NICJR works to reduce incarceration and violence, improve the outcomes of system-involved youth and adults, and increase the capacity and expertise of the organizations that serve these individuals. NICJR provides technical assistance, consulting, research, organizational development, and advocacy in the fields of juvenile and criminal justice, youth development, and violence prevention. NICJR is currently working in several jurisdictions across the country and in California on violence reduction and criminal justice reform initiatives.
2. I am the former Chief Probation Officer of Alameda County, California, and the former Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation. As a former leader of a youth justice agency, I am part of the Steering Committee for Youth Correctional Leaders for Justice (YCLJ). The Steering Committee serves as a resource to the youth corrections field, engaging in an array of technical assistance, guidance, research and policy activities in order to advance reform. Earlier this month, YCLJ issued Recommendations for Youth Justice Systems During the COVID-19 Emergency signed on to by 32 current and former youth correctional administrators throughout the country recommending measures youth justice systems could take to avoid the inadvertent spread of the coronavirus into and out from youth correctional facilities.1
3. COVID-19 is a serious, highly contagious disease that is particularly likely to spread in juvenile detention and correctional settings. According to the most recently available information, hundreds of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed among incarcerated individuals and facility staff members in adult and juvenile correctional settings across the United States.2 Incarcerated individuals have reported confirmed cases of COVID or COVID-like symptoms in 48 states, and deaths at 26 facilities across the country.3
4. Worldwide, catastrophic COVID-19 outbreaks have already occurred. Data released on February 29 showed that almost half (233 out of 565) of new infection cases out of Wuhan, China were inmates in the city’s prison system.4 Iran released 54,000 prisoners to address the pandemic.5 The spread of the disease on cruise ships, churches, nursing
1 Retrieved on 4/15/20 from https://yclj.org/covid19statement. 2 Timothy Williams et al., ‘Jails Are Petri Dishes’: Inmates Freed as the Virus Spreads Behind Bars, New York Times (March 30, 2020), available at: https://nyti.ms/2Jmnf4z. 3 COVID Behind Bars, last visited 4/15/20, https//www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1cAMo2yrrmxupUZ_IJVBuuZO4UizfVxm8&l l=40.09352283139395%2C-86.87937406451238&z=4. 4 ZI Yang, Cracks in the System: COVID-19 in Chinese Prisons, The Diplomat (March 9, 2020). 5 BBC News, Coronavirus: Iran temporarily frees 54,000 prisoners to combat spread https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51723398 (March 3, 2020).
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homes and in malls further highlights the dangers of keeping multiple people enclosed in a confined space.
5. As Alameda County Probation Chief, I oversaw the county’s juvenile detention facility and its juvenile camp, Camp Sweeney. During my career, I have visited juvenile detention facilities in 12 California counties and six state correctional juvenile facilities. I have been a consultant with five of those jurisdictions.
6. California’s juvenile custodial facilities include facilities operated by the state and the individual counties. California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) operates three correctional facilities and a conservation camp, and in December 2018 had 661 youth in its custody.6 Most of California’s counties operate local juvenile facilities, which include juvenile halls and camp/ranch facilities.7 In December 2019, the combined average monthly population for these facilities was 3,621 youth, with an average monthly juvenile hall population of 2,416 youth and an average monthly camp/ranch population of 1,202 youth.8 These county facilities are subject to the minimum standards set by the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC).9
7. Youth in California’s juvenile justice facilities, including local detention or treatment facilities, such as juvenile halls, camps, or ranches, state facilities, and private facilities, live, eat, learn, and spend almost all of their time in close contact with each other. These facilities are, in many respects, designed for exactly the opposite of the physical distancing measures required by this pandemic. A myriad of living arrangements can be found in youth justice facilities, from single cells or rooms to double celling or bunking to large dorm-type sleeping arrangements, with a dozen or more youth sleeping in one large room in close quarters. Facilities generally include shared bathroom and showering facilities, dining facilities, and day rooms. Programs and education, necessary for rehabilitation and the safe and secure operation of such facilities, almost always occur in groups and in spaces that rarely allow for distancing. Of course, in facilities in which youth sleep in dormitory settings, they are almost constantly congregated with one another.
8. Youth justice facilities generally do not have the capacity to ensure the hygiene and sanitizing necessary to protect from the spread of COVID-19. In many cases, youth do not even have regular access to soap and water that would allow them to wash hands when they sneeze, cough, prepare to eat, touch an object, or go from one room to another. Youth typically do not have access to hand sanitizer. Ventilation is often inadequate. And
6 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Research, Characteristics of the Division of Juvenile Justice Population 1 (Dec. 2018). 7 See Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 850, 852, 881. 8 Board of State and Community Corrections, Juvenile Detention Profile Trends 2-4 (March 11, 2020), available at https://www.bscc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/JDPS-Trends-1Q2002-3Q2019.pdf. 9 Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 210, 210.1.
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3 Declaration of David Muhammad
the facilities are not staffed sufficiently to ensure that all surfaces will be regularly cleaned and disinfected.
9. Youth justice facilities typically lack the medical staffing, and often the physical capacity, to hold young people in a safe medical quarantine. Relying on nearby hospitals risks overwhelming local, often rural, health systems; failure to properly treat infected youth risks facility-wide exposure.
10. Youth in the justice system tend to be less healthy than their peers. They have more gaps in Medicaid enrollment and higher rates of asthma and other medical vulnerabilities10 that can increase the severity of COVID-19.11
11. Failing to properly address the justice system’s role in the spread of and exposure to COVID-19 will disparately impact Black, Latino, and Indigenous youth. Research consistently shows racial disparities in rates of incarceration. For example, in 2017, Black and native youth were incarcerated at 5.8 and 2.5 times the rate of white youth.12 In 2015, Latino youth were 1.7 times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth.13 Research has shown that these disparities reflect differential treatment from our justice system rather than differing youth behaviors.14
12. In California, youth of color face a much higher likelihood of institutional placement as compared to white youth, even when controlling for type of offense.15 As compared to white youth, African-American youth are 7.5 times more likely to be ordered to institutional placement, and Latino youth are 2.5 more likely.16 The disproportionate representation of African-American youth in California’s juvenile facilities raises additional concerns about the dangers presented by COVID-19. Preliminary data has
10 Matthew C. Aalsma et al., Preventive Care Use Among Justice-Involved and Non–Justice-Involved Youth, Pediatrics (Nov. 2017). 11 Centers for Disease Control, What to Know About Asthma and COVID-19, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/asthma.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus% 2F2019-ncov%2Fspecific-groups%2Fasthma.html. 12 Sickmund, Melissa, T. J. Sladky, W. Kang, and Charles Puzzanchera, Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice (2019), available at https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezacjrp/asp/State_Facility_Operation.asp?state=59&topic=Sta te_Facility_Operation&year=2017&percent=rate; Puzzanchaera, Charles, Sladky, A., and Kang, W., “Easy Access to Juvenile Populations: 1990-2018.” Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice (2019), available at https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezapop/asp/profile_selection.asp 13 The Sentencing Project, Still Increase in Disparities in Juvenile Justice, 2017 available at https://www.sentencingproject.org/news/still-increase-racial-disparities-juvenile-justice/. 14 Pope, Carl E., Rick Lovell, and Heidi M. Hsia. Disproportionate Minority Confinement: A Review of the Research Literature from 1989 Through 2001. Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse/National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Rockville, MD: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2002), available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=198428. 15 Wong, A. & Ridolfi, L., Unlocking opportunity: How race, ethnicity and place affect the use of institutional placements in California 4 (January 2018), available at https://www.burnsinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Unlocking-Opportunity.pdf. 16 Id.
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shown that black people have been disproportionately affected by the virus, and according to one analysis made up 42% of deaths despite constituting approximately 21% percent of the population covered by the analysis.17
13. Youth correctional facilities require high levels of staffing and are generally staffed in shifts, with program, educational, health/mental health, and custody staff frequently rotating through these facilities three times a day, seven days a week. Like youth, these staff will have a very difficult time maintaining physical distance from the youth, risking carrying the virus into, or out from, the facility from their home communities. Some California juvenile facilities face significant understaffing.
14. Once they, their families and youth in the facilities begin to fall ill or test positive, staff will likely begin calling in sick, either because they or their family members are ill, or because they fear contracting the virus in a closed setting. Staff will not only be required to quarantine themselves in the event of exposure, but the exposure or contagion of family members may also impede them from continuing to work. This could also exacerbate staff turnover and make staff recruitment more difficult. This, in turn, can thin already stretched staffing complements and endanger remaining youth and staff.
15. Combined, these staff disruptions will inevitably lead to diminished programming for youth, including education or special education, individual or group counseling and other rehabilitative programs. Reduced programming will likely lead to increased depression and frustration of residents. It may also lead to behavior problems in the facility, resulting in decreased safety for both youth and staff.
16. Facilities attempting to comply with physical distancing recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will, therefore, likely rely instead on isolation of individual youth.18 Already, in Los Angeles, two facility staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in forty-three youth being quarantined within the juvenile hall.19
17. Across California, juvenile facilities have eliminated in-person visitation. For state facilities, DJJ has suspended in-person visitation indefinitely, and to date has made video visitation available in only one of its four facilities.20 For county facilities, the BSCC
17 Kat Stafford et al., Outcry over racial data grows as virus slams black Americans, Associated Press (April 8, 2020), available at https://apnews.com/71d952faad4a2a5d14441534f7230c7c. 18 Erica L. Green, 'Pacing and Praying': Jailed Youths Seek Release as Virus Spreads, New York Times (April 14, 2020), available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/us/politics/coronavirus-juvenile-detention.html. 19 Leila Miller et al., Second Sylmar juvenile hall employee gets coronavirus; more youths under quarantine, Los Angeles Times (April 6, 2020), available at: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-06/coronavirus-sylmar-juvenile-hall-employee-tests-positive. 20 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice website, https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/juvenile-justice/, last visited 4/15/20. (“As part of CDCR’s COVID-19 prevention efforts, normal visiting will be canceled statewide until further notice. DJJ values visitation as an essential part of rehabilitation, but at this time the Division must make difficult decisions in order to protect the health and wellness of all who live in, work in, and visit our facilities.”); California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice website, https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/juvenile-justice/visiting-your-loved-one-with-skype-
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5 Declaration of David Muhammad
issued a memo advising that a suspension of in-person visitation might be warranted where six feet of social distancing could not be maintained.21 Following this memo, the BSCC has granted requests from counties across the state to suspend compliance with certain of its juvenile facilities regulations. Limited information about these suspensions has been made available on the BSCC’s website, Juvenile Suspension of Standards Dashboard. To date, of the forty-five counties with juvenile facilities, forty have been granted suspension of their compliance with the BSCC’s visitation regulations, with five counties moving visitation into “no contact” rooms, and at least thirty-five counties replacing visitation with phone calls or other remote-only contact.22 For example, in Monterey County, youth are being granted 5-minute phone calls to their families each day.23
18. Many counties have also sought suspension of state regulations regarding rehabilitative programming offered within their facilities. Twenty-eight counties have indicated that their educational programs now rely on packet-based learning.24 Nineteen counties have indicated that facility staff are now providing all programming and/or that outside service providers are no longer able to offer services within the facility.25
19. Withdrawing visitation, reducing or eliminating programs, reducing staffing, and increasing isolation will likely exacerbate facility tension, mental illness and histories of trauma. This, in turn, can dramatically increase the risk of self-harm and is associated with risks lasting into adulthood, including poorer overall general health and increased incidence of suicide.26
20. Eliminating visitation and programming also defeats the rehabilitative purpose of the facilities. Under state law, a commitment to a juvenile facility is permitted to the extent that it is consistent with the rehabilitative purpose of the juvenile court.27 While visitation, education, and other programming are suspended during the pandemic, the rehabilitative goals of a commitment to a juvenile facility cannot be met.
21. Given the physical and staffing constraints of youth justice facilities, the only appropriate way for states to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic is to close intake to detention and
for-business/, last visited 4/15/20. (“Video visiting using Skype for Business is available today, March 26, at Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp. It may be available at other facilities soon. Below are directions for visiting your loved one through Skype for Business.”) 21 Memo to Chief Probation Officers and Juvenile Facility Managers from Linda Penner, Chair of the Board of State and Community Corrections, Re: Juvenile Facilities & Coronavirus COVID-19 (March 13, 2020), available at: http://www.bscc.ca.gov/news/covid-19-and-bscc-juvenile-visitation-guidance/. 22 Board of State and Community Corrections, Juvenile Suspension of Standards Dashboard, last visited 4/15/20, available at: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=ba9b83f39b4a46dd9ea8d8a889c56039. 23 Id. 24 Id. 25 Id. 26 Casiano, H, Katz, LY, Globerman, D, Sareen, J. (2013). Suicide and deliberate self-injurious behavior in juvenile correctional facilities: A review. Journal of Canadian Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 22(2), 118–124. 27 Welf. & Inst. Code § 202(b).
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6 Declaration of David Muhammad
placement facilities for all but the most serious offending youth and release as many youth as safely possible back to their homes. Yet, BSCC estimates that since April 5, 2020, there have been only 126 youth releases related to COVID-19 statewide.28 Twenty-four counties have not released any youth in response to the pandemic in that same time period.29 The current response to the pandemic in the state’s juvenile facilities is insufficient to protect the health and well-being of detained youth.
22. Youth systems should quickly develop and implement individualized transition and aftercare plans to support released youth; and policymakers should augment resources for community programming and access to health care to assure safety and stability for released youth. Families must be provided the access to necessary financial resources to meet the basic needs of their child including adequate housing, food, access to educational supports, and health care.
23. Shifting youth from placement to home is possible, practical, and can be done safely. In New York City and Washington D.C., the vast majority of youth were safely moved out of incarceration and into community programs while ensuring public safety.30 This is true throughout the country; in the overwhelming majority of states, youth incarceration has declined by double-digits. Nationally, from 1997-2017, there has been a 59 percent decline in youth incarceration during which time youth crime has continued to plummet nationally by 71 percent. Because youth incarceration actually worsens youth behavior, prioritizing community-based solutions whenever possible is not only medically-appropriate, but also better for community safety.31 Also here in California, San Francisco County reduced its juvenile detention population from an average of 40 youth down to 14 during this pandemic.
24. Additionally, county probation departments across the state are well-positioned to provide release planning services, which have always been within their authority and duty both for pre-adjudicated and post-adjudicated youth.32 Working together with juvenile court partners, families, and service providers, probation departments can ensure that youth are safe and appropriately supported upon release.
25. For those youth who cannot be safely released back to the community, every effort must be made to ensure that youth and staff inside facilities stay safe and healthy. To that end,
28 Supplemental Juvenile Detention Profile Survey (JDPS), Board of State and Community Corrections, https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=e61336ff506a4ca8810eccc0a6909a32. 29 Id. 30 Center for Children’s Law and Policy, Implementing New York’s Close to Home Initiative: A New Model for Youth Justice (2018) available at http://www.cclp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Close-to-Home-Implementation-Report-Final.pdf; Liz Ryan and Marc Schinder, Notorious to Notable: the Crucial Role of the Philanthropic Community in Transforming the Juvenile Justice System in Washington, D.C, https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/41029454/notorious-to-notable. 31 Anna Aizer, Joseph J. Doyle, Jr., Juvenile Incarceration, Human Capital, and Future Crime: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 130, Issue 2, May 2015, Pages 759–803, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjv003. 32 See Welf. & Inst. Code § 628.1, 730(b).
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facilities must fully comply with all guidance currently being issued by public health officials, including maintaining social distance, increased handwashing, and frequent disinfecting and sanitization of common areas. Additionally, facilities must support youth during this unprecedented time by providing access to technology to facilitate communications with their families and loved ones, as well as distance learning and other activities aimed at supporting rehabilitation. Youth should have regular access to health and mental health care while in custody during this pandemic period to ensure they can get needed medications and support in a timely manner. Finally, under no circumstances should the current pandemic justify the use of punitive measures, such as room confinement or isolation. These measures cannot be accomplished within California' s juvenile facilities without significant population reductions, which can be achieved by effectuating releases and ceasing intakes for youth falling in certain categories.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on April 23, 2020 at ___ _, California.
~1Vf1/A DA YID MUHAMMADL.......:::::_ /
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Declaration of Stephen A. Munkelt
I, Stephen A. Munkelt, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and information
derived from CACJ membership resources and if called to testify I could and would do so
competently as follows:
2. I am a criminal defense attorney in Nevada City, California and am the Executive
Director of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice ("CACJ"), a membership organization
of criminal defense attorneys practicing in California. With over 1,300 members, CACJ is the
nation's largest statewide organization of criminal defense lawyers and allied professionals.
CACJ is a California affiliate of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, but the
two organizations are distinct, with different membership, different officers, and different
governing bodies.
3. CACJ identifies three specific purposes of the organization: (I) to defend the
rights of persons as guaranteed by the United States Constitution, the Constitution of the State of
California and other applicable law; (2) to preserve due process and equal protection of the law
for the benefit of all persons; to enhance the ability of its members to discharge their professional
responsibilities through educational programs, publications and mutual assistance; and (3) to
protect and foster the independence of the criminal defense lawyer and to improve the quality of
the administration of criminal law. CACJ routinely engages in advocacy to advance justice,
fairness, and constitutional protections in the juvenile and adult criminal systems in the comis
and the Legislature.
4. Our members are incredibly concerned about the current coronavirus pandemic
and its effect on our clients, not only for their rights in the criminal comi process and the effects
on our ability to advocate on their behalf, but also for their health and safety given the direct
risks of infection and difficulty getting appropriate medical treatment in most jails. The
coronavirus directly affects CACJ members and their clients, including by placing members'
clients at heightened risk of infection. CACJ has established a COVID-19 resource center on its
website with information and recommendations on the crisis and the response from the Judicial
l
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1 Council, comis, and other government officials.
2 5. Our members represent young people across the state of California who are
3 detained in juvenile halls and camps and within the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities.
4 We are deeply concerned about the health and safety of incarcerated young people as we receive
5 information about inadequate conditions in the juvenile facilities, including a lack of consistent
6 hygiene standards, a failure to meet 6-foot social distancing rules, little to no testing, and limited
7 and iJTegular access to masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Further, our members are increasingly
8 concerned about the mental well-being of their detained juvenile clients, many of whom already
9 suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues, as they receive repo1is of
10 increased isolation for extended periods of time throughout the day.
11 6. CACJ has approximately 1,300 attorney members who practice in California.
12 CACJ members handle juvenile and criminal cases in eve1y county in California.
13 7. CACJ members have clients or former clients incarcerated or detained in county
14 jails and juvenile facilities in California who:
15 • Fit within the Center for Disease Control's definition of people medically vulnerable
16 to COVID-19, 1 because
1 7 o they are age 65 or older, or
18 o they suffer from underlying health conditions (such as chronic lung disease,
19 asthma, HIV, serious heart conditions, immunocompromised, severe obesity,
20 diabetes, chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, liver disease) that place
21 them at heightened risk of severe illness from COVID-19;
22 • Are being detained in jail pre-trial because, although a bail has been set pursuant to
23 the statewide Emergency Bail Schedule promulgated on April 6, 2020, the client
24 cannot afford bail;
25 • Are serving sentences in county jails and have fewer than 120 days left to serve;
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1 See generally, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVJD-19) -People Who Are At Higher Risk, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirns/2019-ncov/needextra-precautions/people-at-higher-risk.html (last visited April 13, 2020).
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• Are being detained in county jails because they had been released on probation or
parole, but have been picked up on technical violations of their conditions ( e.g.,
conduct that violates the conditions of parole or probation but would not otherwise
constitute a criminal offense, such as a failure to rep01i, failure to complete a required
drug test, failure to complete community service in an allotted time, failure to attend
school or counseling, missing a restitution payment, or failure to maintain
employment) and the bail on the underlying conviction is above $0, and they are
unable to post bail;
• Are being detained in juvenile halls, juvenile camps and ranches, and the Division of
Juvenile Justice facilities;
• Are being detained in county and state custody subject to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement ("ICE") detainers (Form I-247 A) requesting that state and local officials
notify ICE when the individual is due for release from custody and permit ICE to take
custody of the individual at the point they are released from criminal custody. Many
individuals are due for release now or soon, at which point they will be subject to
transfers to ICE custody and incarceration in ICE detention facilities in California.
8, CACJ members have sought and are seeking release of their individual clients to
18 reduce the risk of infection while in custody, and to reduce jail populations in order to create the
19 possibility of social distancing and other protective measures for those remaining in custody as
20 well as juvenile facility and jail staff. These individual effo1is cannot be completed quickly
21 enough to protect the health of our clients or to contribute significantly to the mitigation of the
22 first wave of virus infections.
23 I declare under penalty ofpe1jury under the laws of the State of California and the United
24 States that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 17th day of April, 2020 in Nevada
25 City, California.
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Declaration of Joshua Neal
1. I, Joshua Neal, hereby state that the facts set forth below are true and correct to the best
of my knowledge, information, and belief.
2. I am thirty years old.
3. I am currently incarcerated at Santa Rita Jail. I have been in custody since January 6,
2020. I am serving my sentence, and I am scheduled to be released from custody on June
2, 2020.
4. When I was a child, I was diagnosed with asthma. I still currently suffer from symptoms
and sometimes have difficulty breathing. I also suffer from back problems.
5. I was previously diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, depression, and post-traumatic stress
disorder. I am currently taking medication for my mental health issues. I am currently
housed in the behavioral health unit of the jail.
6. I am currently housed in Housing Unit 9F, Cell 3. When I first arrived at this pod, it had
only recently been released from quarantine. I do not know what steps were taken to
sanitize this pod before I arrived. There are approximately sixteen people housed in this
unit. Currently, there are at least three cells in my unit with two inmates. For about two
weeks, I was housed in a cell with another person. My cellmate was only recently
released on April 14, 2020. The cell next to me is directly adjacent to my cell. It is
currently occupied. Deputies are supposed to facilitate cell cleaning every day, but that
does not happen every day. Inmates come out for pod time at the same time. When we
exit our pods, we are two to three feet away from the inmate next to us. During pod time,
there are no restrictions on keeping inmates away from each other. Some inmates sit at
the same tables. Some still talk to one another while within six feet from one another.
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Deputies sometimes come into our housing unit from other housing units without wearing
face masks or gloves. Approximately three days ago, a sergeant and two deputies came
into our housing unit without face masks or gloves. They were not socially distancing
from each other. They told us that they did not have to wear masks or gloves. There are
no restrictions on where people can move within the pods during pod time. I have seen
inmates coughing and sneezing in the unit. I have not seen a response from deputies to
inmates coughing or sneezing.
7. We are not allowed to go to the yard as a group and are generally restricted to eating in
our cells. Phones can be used during pod time, but phones are not wiped down. Railings
are not wiped down either.
8. Jail staff has advised us to wash our hands and stay six feet away from other people, but
they have not provided us with any other educational information about how to prevent
COVID-19 infection. Almost all of the information we receive about the COVID-19
pandemic is from the news. We did not know there were positive cases of COVID-19 at
Santa Rita Jail until we heard it on the news. New people are constantly being brought
into our housing unit, and we have no idea if they have been tested for exposure to
COVID-19 or not.
9. There was a period of four to five days where we received disinfectant wipes at
lunchtime. We would only receive them once per day. About two to three weeks ago, that
practice stopped, and we no longer receive disinfectant wipes. We were given face masks
about one week ago. We have not been given any gloves. We get soap about once every
other week. We were not given soap this week or last week.
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10. It is difficult to access medical care while incarcerated. Inmates are generally required to
put in a “sick call” and may not hear anything unless our request is seen as urgent. In the
past, if an inmate had money on his or her books, $5 was deducted for every medical visit
to a doctor or nurse. I am uncertain if this practice still continues.
11. Being incarcerated during the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely stressful for me
and has increased my anxiety tremendously. As mentioned above, I have previously been
diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Remaining in custody has sent me into various bouts of depression. I have also been
having nightmares. My sister and her daughters are living out of their car, and I am
extremely anxious about their safety. I feel completely helpless since I am incarcerated
and cannot assist them. I have tried to talk to mental health clinicians but have had
difficulty receiving help. Around March 21, 2020, I told a deputy that I was struggling
and needed to talk to someone from mental health right away. They told me that I had to
fill out a message request. I asked again later and was told I had to fill out a sick call. I
asked for help a third time, and after receiving no response, I filed a grievance. I finally
spoke to someone from the mental health unit yesterday.
12. I recently put in a message request to booking to see if I qualify for early release since I
have less than sixty days to serve on my sentence. I was told that the situation changes
every day. I asked about my status again recently and was told not to keep asking. I have
not received any other advice or information.
13. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
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14. Because of the coronavirus and my confinement, I was not able to sign this declaration in
person. The declaration was read to me, over video call, by Michael Wu, an attorney at
the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office, on April 17, 2020. I understood and
verified its contents in full, and authorized Michael Wu to sign the declaration on my
behalf.”
This declaration is executed at Alameda County, California, this 17th day of April 2020.
______________________________ Michael L. Wu (SBN: 287367) for Joshua Neal (PFN: BGX484)
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DECLARATION OF ADAM NELSON
AN INMATE IN SANTA RITA JAIL, ALAMEDA COUNTY
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I, ADAM NELSON, declare:
1. I was an inmate in Santa Rita Jail, the County Jail for Alameda County. I was
released on April 13, 2020.
2. I was booked into Santa Rita on December 9, 2019 and housed in Housing
Unit 31, one of the units where one or more inmates had tested positive for covid-19. Housing
Unit 31 is a dormitory style unit, where the cells are filled with up to 28 bunk beds. There are
three cells on the top tier and three cells on the bottom tier. The bunk beds are at most 3 feet
apart, so there is no possibility of maintaining social distancing. When full, each housing unit
has close to 200 inmates. When I left, the jail had removed some inmates, but we still had
between 15-20 men in each cell. Many of the bunk beds only had one occupant, but a few still
had two.
3. The sanitation in Santa Rita Jail is very poor. Prior to the corona virus
outbreak, cells were not cleaned. The jail says they are supposed to provide cleaning materials
once a week so inmates can clean our bathrooms and cells. But in my experience, in February,
we were provided cleaning materials twice. And the cleaning supplies consisted of a bucket of
brown soapy water, and a dirty mop and broom which all the cells were required to use. The
mop was the mop used for the bathroom, and so many of the men did not want to use that mop
for the cell. The lack of sanitation, particularly of the bathroom was a major complaint of all the
inmates. You had twenty-eight men sharing the bathroom, and the bathroom was only cleaned
once a month because the jail refused to provide inmates with appropriate clean cleaning
supplies and tools.
4. Only after the coronavirus arrived, the jail started to clean the common areas
more often. The common areas are used by all six (6) cells, so hundreds of men. The cleaning
involved only spraying the tables, the water fountain, and the telephones with some type of
bleach spray, but these items were never wiped clean, with clean paper towels or rags, so the dirt
was still on all of these items. And only after the coronavirus arrived did the jail start to make
cleaning supplies available more often, approximately once every three (3) days. However, the
cleaning supplies remained dirty brown soapy water and the dirty broom and mop.
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DECLARATION OF ADAM NELSON
AN INMATE IN SANTA RITA JAIL, ALAMEDA COUNTY
2
5. Before the coronavirus, the jail did not provide soap. Inmates were required to
buy soap, so hand washing was rare. After the corona virus, the jail made public statements that
they were now providing inmates with soap and hand sanitizer. During the period of time I was
in Santa Rita, I received one bar of soap and twice received two (2) small packets of single use
hand sanitizer.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the
United States that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief on
April 19, 2020, in Livermore, California.
Due to the shelter at home requirements, I am unable to meet and sign this
declaration. I have reviewed an electronic copy and authorize Yolanda Huang to sign this
declaration for me and use it for any purpose.
Executed on 4/19/2020 in Berkeley, California.
Signed by YOLANDA HUANG, SBN104543 Law Offices of Yolanda Huang on behalf of ADAM NELSON
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DECLARATION OF MANOHAR RAJU
I, Manohar Raju, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and information
derived from my position as San Francisco Public Defender. If called to testify I could and
would do so competently as follows:
2. I am an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of California. I have been a
public defender for approximately nineteen years and have served as San Francisco Public
Defender since 2019.
3. As the San Francisco Public Defender, I oversee the juvenile unit of six attorneys
who are certified to represent youth in juvenile court. Our office works to uphold a reputation not
only as a formidable group of lawyers but also as a catalyst for criminal justice reform. As part
of the legal team, we provide a model of holistic representation including six social workers, an
education attorney, paralegals, and investigators dedicated to defending youth in the juvenile
justice system. A material role of our juvenile defenders is to represent youth who are detained in
juvenile hall and to secure their release from detention to home or alternative non-secure
placements. In this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, our effort to secure the release of detained
youth is paramount to protect their health and safety.
4. Children represented by my office remain in detention at San Francisco’s juvenile
hall. I am deeply concerned about these children being detained in the midst of the
unprecedented public health crisis. In light of the health emergency and the Governor’s order to
shelter in place, all children currently detained in San Francisco Juvenile Hall should be released
immediately.
5. With the pandemic present within the San Francisco community there is a high
possibility that staff will transmit the virus to children in their custody, or that newly detained
children will transmit it to staff and other young people. In late March, for example, my office
learned that a child who was recently brought to juvenile hall was exhibiting flu-like symptoms
and was quarantined in his room for three days. We learned this from a young client who was
terrified of being exposed himself. While the young person exhibiting symptoms ultimately
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tested negative for COVID-19, my office was fielding anxious calls from families begging us to
seek the release of their children because of their fear of exposure.
6. Although older adults are more susceptible to becoming severely ill from
COVID-19, according to the Center for Disease Control and various news sources, some
children and infants have also become sick, requiring various degrees of medical attention. The
American Academy of Pediatrics, in its journal Pediatrics, released a study out of China which
showed there have been severe cases of COVID-19 in youth of all ages. We also know that
young people can transmit it to vulnerable populations without themselves showing any
symptoms.
7. We are not only concerned about the physical health of children detained in
juvenile halls, but also their mental health. Stress and mental health effects of the pandemic are
particularly acute for young people and children, and for those who are detained or have a loved
one who is.
8. Family separation is always a serious issue. Right now, it is an especially
important one and we are increasingly concerned that family separation will have long-lasting
and disastrous effects. This is of course most concerning for children.
9. In my capacity as a public defender, I believe that the only sure way to protect the
safety and health of incarcerated youth is to: (1) Release all youth from juvenile hall. All
children should be returned home or immediately released to non-congregate residential homes;
and (2) Halt all new admissions to detention to mitigate the harm from the COVID-19 pandemic.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California and the United
States that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 22nd day of April, 2020.
____________________________________
Manohar Raju
San Francisco Public Defender
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DECLARATION OF SARA ROSS
I, Sara Ross, declare:
1. I am an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of California. I have been
a lawyer for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office for the past fifteen
years.
2. I am an Assistant Public Defender currently assigned to supervise our Writs
and Appeals Department. As part of my responsibilities, I appear in court,
litigate matters, and assist other lawyers with any legal issues that arise in the
course of their litigation.
3. I have been involved in litigating shackling issues since the Orange County
Sheriff’s Department changed its shackling policy in October 2019.
4. Towards the end of October 2019, the Sheriff’s Department changed its
shackling policy. At that time, the Sheriff’s Department began to implement a
policy wherein inmates brought to the courthouse are shackled for up to 10-14
hours a day.
5. I have personal knowledge of the shackling, as I appear in court regularly and
have observed the inmates when they are shackled. I have also talked to around
30-40 inmates who are shackled.
6. The shackles consist of metal belly chains wrapped around our clients’ waists,
metal handcuffs attached to the belly chains by short chains, and a padlock to
lock the chains up in the back. Our clients are severely limited in their ability
to move their arms, restricting them from accomplishing basic tasks such as
feeding themselves or cleaning themselves after using the bathroom.
7. Orange County courts have been partially closed since the middle of March
2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some courtrooms have
remained open for urgent matters and certain hearings, including last day
preliminary hearings.
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8. Although Orange County has developed certain remote hearing capabilities,
many inmates are still brought in person from jail to the courthouse for these
hearings. I estimate there are 5-10 in-person preliminary hearings a day and 10
plea hearings a day.
9. When inmates arrive at the courthouse, they are held together in holding cells
where many people are kept together in a single cell, and where it would be
impossible for them to maintain anything close to six feet of distance from
each other.
10. Inmates from different housing units in the same jail, and from different jail
facilities in the Orange County jail system are kept together in the same
holding cells.
11. I have heard from about 5-7 clients that there is no extra cleaning or
disinfecting occurring.
12. Some of the inmates are wearing masks in court, but not all. Most of the court
deputies are not wearing masks.
13. Inmates in the holding cells share toilets and sinks with each other.
14. Inmates who are transported to court during this partial closure are shackled in
the same manner as described above. Inmates also stand or sit within a few
feet of one another when they are present in court. In addition, inmates are
shackled while they are inside the courtroom.
I declare under penalty of perjury that all of the above is true and correct to the best
of my knowledge. Executed in Santa Ana, California, this 22nd day of April, 2020.
Sara Ross SARA ROSS Assistant Public Defender
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Declaration of Mark Saatjian
I, Mark Saatjian, am an attorney in the Office of the Santa Barbara County Public Defender. The
Public Defender represents Christian Menth.
I spoke with Mr. Menth on April 17, 2020, at 2:20 p.m. He is a prisoner in the Santa Barbara
County jail. He called me from a phone in East 4.
Mr. Menth was arrested on March 28. At booking, some of the people were not wearing
masks. He was approximately two feet away from the people who booked him in. Many of these
people were not wearing masks. They checked his temperature with an infrared thermometer. He was
asked questions about how he was feeling.
After booking, Mr. Menth was housed in Inmate Reception Center (IRC) isolation for 14
days. Mr. Menth was placed in a cell in the IRC 400 with one other person. The cell has a window to
the day room. The day room is not being used. The cell contains two single beds, one table, one sink,
and one toilet. The toilet has an approximately five-minute delay before it flushes. Sometimes the
button to flush would not work at all. Approximately April 4, the toilet of another cell in the IRC 400s
was stopped up. Mr. Menth witnessed a C.O. remove the prisoners housed in that cell to use the toilet
on the yard. Otherwise, no one went onto the yard.
The Sheriff’s staff never gave Christian Menth or his cellmate any cleaning products, rags,
sponges to clean their cell. When Christian arrived in the cell, his cellmate had already been there for
about seven days. There were dust bunnies under the bunks. His cellmate used a plastic sandwich bag
to sweep the dust bunnies toward the door, and then he and his cellmate picked them up and threw them
away with their lunch trash. Mr. Menth and his cellmate asked for a broom but never received one.
Mr. Menth and his cellmate would use a sock to clean their sink and toilet. They would wet the
sock and rub the sock with the hotel-sized bar of soap that they received in the hygiene kit. They would
then wipe down the toilet. They were never given cleaner or sanitizer. They had no gloves. Two days
before leaving IRC isolation, Mr. Menth was given a mask.
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Mr. Menth’s cellmate left when Menth was seven days into his own isolation. Mr. Menth
remained alone for the last week. He observed that others in the IRC 400 received new cellmates after
one had left. He and his cellmate reflected on the absurdity of this procedure.
Through the window of their cell, Mr. Menth observed trustees wiping down the day room
repeatedly, but the day room was never used. No one was allowed in the day room except when they
were being brought to a cell or removed from a cell.
The phone in Mr. Menth’s cell did not work. He was not allowed make calls from another
phone. He was not allowed to make a call when he was arrested. Mr. Menth went two weeks without
access to a phone.
He was locked down for 24 hours for two weeks. He only left the cell for court. Showers were
supposed to be available every other day; however, showers were not offered. Mr. Menth went the first
five days in custody with no shower.
Signed this 20th day of April, 2020, in the city of Santa Barbara.
________________________
Mark Saatjian, Declarant
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Declaration of Mark Saatjian
I, Mark Saatjian, am an attorney in the Office of the Santa Barbara County Public Defender. In
this capacity, I represent Isael Elenes.
On April 17, 2020, Mr. Elenes called me from the Santa Barbara County Jail. He described the
following circumstances:
Mr. Elenes is currently housed in East 4. He was moved there with other general population
prisoners approximately two weeks ago.
When he arrived at East 4, the cells were filthy. There was dust on the bunks, on the table
surfaces, and the toilet and sink were not clean. The prisoners had to clean the cells without protective
equipment.
East 4 consists of a day room, and two cells. Each cell has one toilet and one sink. Nine men are
housed in each cell. Eight sleep on two-person bunks, and one has a single bed. Three of the two-
person bunks are against the walls of the cell and one stands in the middle of the cell. The single bed is
also in the middle of the cell, making it difficult to walk around the cell. The cell itself measures 20 feet
by 20 feet approximately.
The second cell is identical. One toilet for nine men and one sink.
There is one shower for 18 men, and there is one phone.
In the dayroom, bolted to the floor, are tables with benches. The tables resemble picnic benches
and seat four on each side.
Mr. Elenes reports that he has had flu-like symptoms and has been coughing. While I was on the
phone, I heard someone sneeze loudly in the background. Mr. Elenes told me no one was wearing a
mask while inside East 4.
He said that he has been sick off and on over the last few weeks. He told me there are always at
least four to five people who are sick. People who are sick seem to get better and then get sick
again. The people who are sick are coughing and say they have a fever. The living space is cramped,
and it is impossible to stay six feet from the people who are sick. You hear them coughing in the night
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throughout the cell.
Mr. Elenes’s celly has had these symptoms and put in multiple kites to medical. Medical’s
response has been, drink water.
People who do not purchase soap through their commissary receive one bar of soap per
week. This soap is the size of a small motel-sized bar and comes wrapped in plastic. Mr. Elenes told
me that it is not possible to make this soap last a week if you are washing yourself regularly. There is no
liquid soap or hand sanitizer.
Many of the custody deputies wear masks. Even on April 17, some deputies did not have a mask
on. When asked why they don’t wear a mask, some say they’ve already had the virus. Mr. Elenes told
me this scares him. He asked me if there were studies about whether people could continue to spread
the virus if they had had it. He questioned whether the jail staff that does not wear masks really knows
that they have immunity and that they cannot pass on the virus.
Signed this 20th day of April, 2020, in the city of Santa Barbara.
________________________
Mark Saatjian, Declarant
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FAY ARFA, A LAW CORPORATIONFay Arfa, Attorney - State Bar No. 10014310100 Santa Monica Blvd., #300Los Angeles, CA 90067Tel.: (310) 841-6805Fax: (310) [email protected]
Attorney for DefendantRANDAL LETCHER SCOTT
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY ORANGE
THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA,
Plaintiff,
v.
RANDAL LETCHER SCOTT,
Defendant.__________________________________
))))))))))
No. 17WF1545
DECLARATION OFRANDAL SCOTT SIGNEDBY ATTORNEY FAYARFA ON HIS BEHALF
I, Randall Scott, declare:
1. I am an inmate at the Orange County Jail, Theo Lacy Facility, 501
The City Drive South, Orange, Ca. 92868.
2. I am 60 years old (DOB: 1-31-60) and my inmate number is
3099429.
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3. Although I am facing criminal charges, my trial date is in limbo
because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I do not have a trial date.
4. I am very afraid of contracting the COVID-19 because of the
conditions in the jail.
5. I am currently housed in a 32 man module that contains 16 cells.
Each cell, including mine, contains two men.
6. I live with my cell mate in a six foot wide and 11 foot long cell.
7. We sleep in bunk beds that extend three feet into the six foot
width of the cell. The bunk beds extend seven feet along the 11-
foot length of the cell.
8. Because the bed extends three feet into the width of the cell, we
are cramped in the cell. We only have a three-foot wide space to
walk around.
9. We have no space along the length of the 11-foot cell because a
toilet sits on one side of the bed and a table stands on the other
side of the bed.
10. I and my cell mate cannot social distance six feet from each other
because of the cramped conditions.
11. I and my cell mate are together constantly and eat our three
meals together in the same cell.
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12. We have no decent air quality. For example, I had a black, wet
sock. I put the sock near the air vent to dry out. When I next saw
the sock, it had turned white.
13. After I wash my face with the water in my cell, the dust makes my
face look brown.
14. Several people in my facility have been coughing; two staff
members contracted the COVID-19.
15. When someone on the kitchen staff had COVID-19 symptoms, the
jail staff quarantined the kitchen staff. The jail staff sought 30
new men to work in the kitchen.
16. A captain gave us face masks cut from a bed sheet. The captain
told us to wear the face masks when we leave our room to walk
out amongst the staff, but told us that, when we were amongst
ourselves, “I don’t give a shit.”
17. When an inmate had a swollen throat and trouble breathing, it
took three days to get him into medical for an examination.
18. The jail staff quarantined his cell and told the other inmates to go
into the man’s cell, without wearing cloves, and clean it.
19. The jail feeds us chemically engineered soy bologna, loaded with
preservatives, for lunch six days a week. We also eat chemically
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engineered “chicken or meat” made from a yellow colored soy.
20. In July 2019, I developed a pea-sized lump on my neck. By
September 2019, the lump grew to size of a marble. I notified
Medical in October and saw a nursing assistant who could not
help me.
21. After the lump grew bigger and bigger, a nursing assistant
referred me to a nurse practitioner. In February 2020, I saw a
nurse practitioner who told me I had a lump in my lymph nodes.
22. The nurse took five vials of blood. Medical was supposed to send
me to a hospital for ultrasound and a biopsy. However, after one
and half months, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have not
been able to leave to go to the hospital even though I am
scheduled for an ultrasound and a biopsy.
23. My family has a history of cancer. My grandmother and
grandfather both died of cancer.
24. I and the other inmates are deathly afraid of contracting COVID-
19 and we desperately need help.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of
California and the United States that the foregoing is true and correct
to the best of my knowledge and belief.
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Declaration of Avantika Shastri
I, Avantika Shastri, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge, and if called to testify, I
could and would do so competently as follows:
2. I am an Immigration Defense Attorney at the Office of the Public Defender, County of
Alameda, where I specialize in those issues that arise from the intersection of criminal and immigration
law. My practice focuses on ensuring that our noncitizen clients receive accurate advice and
affirmatively seek to mitigate immigration consequences of criminal charges and pleas by training and
consulting with the criminal defense attorneys in our office. I have been practicing immigration law,
and removal defense in particular, since 2004.
3. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (“ACSO”) receives and responds to notification
requests (Forms I-247A) from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When it receives a notification
request from ICE, it enters that information into an online database that our office may reference to
determine if a Form I -247A has been issued for our client. Under the Truth Act, the ACSO is required
to notify our office if it shares a client’s release information with ICE. The ACSO releases individuals
in its custody to ICE if ICE is present when the individual is released. The ACSO is also required to
report its cooperation with ICE in annual Truth Act forums. Recordings of prior reports are available on
the website of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
4. My office monitors whether the ACSO transfers our clients to ICE custody when they
are due for release and performs legal analysis in each case under Gov’t Code § 7282.5 to determine
whether such transfers are permitted by California law.
5. On March 24, 2020, after the Alameda County Health Officer issued a shelter in place
order for the county, our office sent a letter to the ACSO requesting a moratorium on responding to ICE
notification requests for the duration of the shelter in place order. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true
and correct copy of the letter. The Sheriff’s Office confirmed receipt of the letter but has not otherwise
responded to that moratorium request.
6. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, I am aware that the ACSO has released at least
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one of our clients to ICE custody from Santa Rita Jail. This individual completed his criminal sentence
at the beginning of April, and was immediately detained upon his release by ICE. Upon making
inquiries after our client was arrested, I spoke to an official at the ICE Enforcement and Removal Office
in San Francisco who informed me that our client was not subject to mandatory detention under the
immigration statute, but that ICE intended to hold him without bond in ICE’s discretion. He currently
remains in custody at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, California. Attached hereto as
Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of a screenshot of the ICE online inmate locator which shows that
this client remains detained in Mesa Verde. I have redacted his name and alien registration number to
protect his privacy.
7. Our office also has at least one other client who is presently completing his sentence in
ACSO custody. He has an ICE notification request (Form I-247A) and is at risk of imminent transfer to
ICE during this pandemic. This client has lived in the United States for 20 years and has strong family
ties in the United States.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the United States that the
foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 21st day of April, 2020, in Richmond, California.
s/Avantika Shastri
Avantika Shastri
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TRACY M. MACUGA (SBN 163424) PUBLIC DEFENDER MATTHEW J. SPEREDELOZZI (SBN 256190) Deputy Public Defender County of Santa Barbara 1100 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Telephone: (805) 568-3465 Facsimile: (805) 568-3564 Email: [email protected]
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA
SUPERIOR COURT APPELLATE DIVISION
INMATES AT THE SANTA BARBARA COUNTY JAIL Petitioner, v. SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SHERIFF Respondent, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, Real Party in Interest,
) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )
Declaration of counsel regarding information obtained from inmate/client Jovanny Cipres.
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I, Matthew J. Speredelozzi, declare as follows.
1. I am an attorney duly licensed to practice law by the State Bar of California.
2. I am a certified as a specialist in criminal law by the State Bar of California, Board
of Legal Specialization.
3. I am employed by the Law Office of the Public Defender, County Santa Barbara as a
Deputy Public Defender.
4. I am currently assigned to represent inmate Jovanny Cipres in felony case number
19CR09268.
5. I spoke with Mr. Cipres on April 17, 2020 who gave me current conditions inside the
Santa Barbara County Jail, even after population reduction related to the judicial
counsel emergency bail schedule.
6. Mr. Cipres told me that he is living in East 24 within the Santa Barbara County
Jail.
7. They are still living in dorm-style housing. There are currently around 20-25
inmates in his dorm.
8. They are living in extremely close quarters. For example, when lying in bed, if he
stretches his arms out, he could touch the person’s lying in the next bed over.
9. The men are sharing one shower and four toilets. Jail staff do not clean the toilets.
Instead, the inmates are given limited cleaning supplies and it is their
responsibility to clean up. Not all inmates are clean. Mr. Cipres reports that he
tries to clean the toilets and showers before he uses them, but does not believe he
has adequate cleaning supplies for proper cleaning.
10. Many of the COs (Deputies) are not wearing gloves or masks, which is a concern for
him.
11. The jail is bringing people in from IRC where they have been quarantined for
fourteen days. In the past two weeks, six new inmates have been brought to his
area from IRC. The latest person was brought in two days prior to today.
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12. Mr. Cipres made clear that under the current circumstances within the jail, he does
not feel safe and he does not feel as if the jail is taking adequate precautions to
protect a possible outbreak of COVID-19 within the jail.
13. Mr. Cipres consented to us using this information for his benefit and for the benefit
of others within the jail. I explained to him that I would put this information in a
declaration that may be used in court and he consented to its use in that way.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct.
Dated: April 17, 2020
By: ____________________________
MATTHEW J. SPEREDELOZZI Deputy Public Defender
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Declaration of Nick Stewart-Oaten
I, Nick Stewart-Oaten, hereby state that the facts set forth below are true
and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.
1. I am a Deputy Public Defender assigned to the Appellate Branch of the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office.
2. In that capacity, I have been involved in countywide meetings with different criminal court agencies regarding the implementation of the Judicial Council's Emergency Rules, adopted April 6, 2020.
3. Rule 4 of the Emergency Rules established a zero bail schedule for many misdemeanor and felony offenses and required courts to apply that zero bail schedule to eligible defendants by April 13, 2020. The goal of zero bail order was to reduce overcrowding in jails in an effort to curb the spread of the COVID 19 virus.
4. A preliminary review by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department identified approximately 1600 incarcerated defendants who appear to qualify for zero bail. The Sheriffs list was not exhaustive and my office has identified additional incarcerated defendants who appear to qualify for relief under the Rule 4.
5. The courts, prosecution, and defense in LA County are cooperating in an effort to identify and release incarcerated persons who qualify for relief under Rule 4.
6. However, because of the numerous exceptions established by Rule 4, it can be difficult to determine whether an individual defendant qualifies for zero bail. Under Rule 4, for example, a defendant charged with grand theft qualifies for zero bail, while a defendant charged with grand theft with a gang enhancement does not.
7. Because these disqualifying enhancements are generally not reflected in the sheriffs records, the Los Angeles District Attorney has been required to
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individually examme each case prior to agreeing to release. While the District Attorney is acting in good faith, this process is time consuming. After a week of vetting, only 222 of the more than 1600 potentially eligible defendants covered by Rule 4 have been cleared for release. At the current rate, it will take approximately two months for all eligible defendants to be reviewed and released.
8. Many of the defendants who appear eligible for release in LA County have serious health issues such as diabetes, asthma, cancer, or HIV that render them particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. The vast overcrowding in LA County jail generally prevents these defendants from complying with necessary health measures such as social distancing or even regular handwashing. As such, the delay in releasing these defendants poses a significant health risk to these men and women.
Nick Stewart-Oaten
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Declaration of Cassandra Stubbs on Behalf of Jeff Nunes
1. I, Cassandra Stubbs, hereby state that the facts set forth below are true and correct to the
best of my knowledge, information, and belief.
2. I am an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. I am licensed to practice law
and am based in North Carolina. I am also licensed to practice law in California, where I
have been a member of the bar since 2002.
3. On April 20, 2020, I spoke to Jeff Nunes who is currently incarcerated at the Tulare
County jail.
4. Mr. Nunes has been in custody since February 10, 2020. He is serving his sentence and
is scheduled to be released on June 22, 2020.
5. Mr. Nunes is assigned to the work dorm. He is in a two-person cell, with a cell mate.
They sleep in bunk beds. The cell opens into a common day room, shared by the 13
double cells on the top and 13 double cells on the bottom. The men are allowed to be in
the day room with the other cells on their floor. In other words, the 26 men in the top
cells are allowed access together and the 26 men in the bottom cells are allowed access.
6. There is no social distancing in Mr. Nunes’s day. He is in close quarters in his cell with
his bunk mate and close quarters with the other 25 men in the day room. They sit 5 or 6
at a circular table where they are close enough to touch other. They use common phones
in the day room.
7. In the morning, they receive their meals from one of the food worker inmates who pushes
a sack through their cell. The sack has cereal for his breakfast and lunch. He eats
breakfast in his cell. For dinner, he receives a hot tray at 4:00 p.m., delivered by another
detainee. They sometimes eat dinner in the day room, and sometimes in their cells.
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8. At 7:00 a.m. he goes to his job in the farm. Before they leave for work, the men must
line up to receive their medication and to have their temperatures taken. There is no
separation between the men when in lines.
9. Mr. Nunes works on the farm. He collects eggs with another inmate. They ride shoulder
to shoulder in a cart. On Saturday April 18, 2020, Mr. Nunes’s coworker became sick.
He had a slight temperature when they left for work, but as the day went on he became
too sick to work and returned to the module. His temperature had risen over 101 degrees
and they moved him to three separate quarantine cells before moving him to the jail
hospital. The coworker was scheduled to be released and Mr. Nunes doesn’t know
whether he had COVID-19 or whether he was released.
10. After his coworker was sick, Mr. Nunes returned to his cell and cellmate. He was not
tested for COVID-19 or quarantined.
11. Mr. Nunes has asked for a mask but does not have one.
12. The other detaineees in the work dorm work in the kitchen, where they prepare the food,
deliver the food around the jail facilities, or work as processors. The processors work 12
hour shifts. Their work includes cleaning cells, and working with the new admissions to
the jail, people right off the street.
13. Mr. Nunes is married and if released he would be able to go home and self-isolate in his
home.
14. I prepared this declaration after talking with Mr. Nunes on April 20, 2020. I read it to
him over the phone on April 21, 2020 and he affirmed the accuracy.
15. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
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This declaration is executed at Durham, North Carolina, this 21st day of April 2020.
/s Cassandra Stubbs Cassandra Stubbs
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DECLARATION OF COUNSEL
I, ERICA SUTHERLAND, hereby declare under penalty of perjury:
1. I am an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of California and am employed by the Santa
Barbara Office of the Public Defender.
2. I represent Nolberto Jose Ramos Corral on file 20CR01209.
3. Mr. Corral is diabetic and suffers from high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
4. Mr. Corral has been incarcerated pre-trial in the Santa Barbara Jail since February 4, 2020.
5. Mr. Corral is housed in Basement Dorm-2.
6. On April 20, 2020, Mr. Corral told me that there are over 60 men in his dorm. People are afraid
of sleeping on top bunk beds and prefer to sleep on the ground. It is impossible to stay 6 feet
away from others. He stated that inmates have been transferred from IRC and they arrive without
masks. There are multiple people in his unit who are coughing.
7. Mr. Corral stated that while speaking to me, he could see there was no soap at any of the three
sinks near him. When there is soap available, it is bar soap and everyone touches the same bar.
He stated there is never soap in the showers. He stated that the bathroom sinks are unsanitary
and filled with bits of food. He expressed frustration that when they ran out of toilet paper and
he asked the guards to bring a roll, the guards did not bring any for hours. He was forced to
choose between using the restroom without toilet paper or waiting in serious discomfort for
hours.
8. Mr. Corral stated that he is particularly fearful of contracting Covid-19 because he is diabetic.
He routinely begs other inmates to stay away from him. He purchased a rag and disinfectant
from the canteen which he uses to clean his cot and the floor around it. He uses his second jail-
issues shirt as a second cleaning rag. He sprays disinfectant on his hands several times a day.
He described the dorm as “very nasty” and is distressed by the lack of hygiene.
9. Mr. Corral described unsanitary and unacceptable housing in Dorm 2. I believe Mr. Corral’s
health is endangered by his incarceration in the Santa Barbara County Jail.
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Dated: April 20, 2020 TRACY M. MACUGA, PUBLIC DEFENDER
By: ____________________________ Erica Sutherland
Deputy Public Defender Attorney for Defendant
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DECLARATION OF BENITO VENEGAS -1-
DECLARATION OF BENITO VENEGAS
I, Benito Venegas, hereby declare and say:
1. I make this declaration of my own free will. I have personal knowledge of
the facts set forth herein and if called as a witness, could and would testify competently
thereto:
2. I am currently incarcerated in Men’s Central Jail (“MCJ”) in Los Angeles,
California. I have been incarcerated at MCJ for the last two years, awaiting trial on felony
charges.
3. I am a 27-year old Hispanic man with asthma and other health conditions
that make me vulnerable to COVID-19. When I was 17 years old, I was diagnosed with
epilepsy. I have since had seizures on average about twice a month for the last ten years.
Last week, I experienced two seizures on the same day. My seizures generally cause me
to fall to the ground involuntarily. I have had seizures in the shower, where I fall to the
ground involuntarily and scrape myself on the shower floor. The showers are used by
over eighty people daily and are not cleaned thoroughly. The shower floor is visibly dirty
even after it is cleaned. Since I have been in jail, I have developed irritation on my skin
which I believe may be due to contact that I have made with unhygienic surfaces when
experiencing seizures.
4. I am housed in the “School Dorm” which is an 87-person dorm. We are
almost at full capacity; at last count on April 14, I believe there were only four open
bunks. The dorm has restrooms, showers, telephone booths, communal tables, a workout
area with pullup bars, vending machines and triple bunk beds. The triple bunk beds are
less than 3 feet apart from one another. We all usually eat our meals at our bunks or at the
communal tables. The prisoners with whom I share this space touch all of the same
common surfaces. Since early March, the guards canceled yard time, and since then we
have been in our dorm all day. We all leave for our court appearances, medical visits,
attorney visits, and other mandatory transports from time to time and come back to the
dorm.
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DECLARATION OF BENITO VENEGAS -2-
5. It is difficult, if not impossible, to keep six feet of distance with the other
prisoners in my dorm. It is a small dorm, filled with more than eighty people, and very
crowded. We share all of the common spaces in the cell, including the exercise area
consisting of pull-up bars, the showers, the restrooms, and the tables where we sit, each,
watch television, and play cards. We also sleep in very close proximity to each other. For
instance, there is an older man (I estimate about 80 years old) who sleeps in a bunk right
beside my bunk. He is less than six feet away from me. At night, I can hear him coughing
loudly.
6. We are given our food through a slot in the doorway by trustees, some of
whom wear masks but others do not. The ones who wear masks only started to wear them
about two weeks ago. The trustees are sometimes conversing with us or with each other
when they give us food, and I have personally seen at least one trustee coughing or
sneezing when handling the food. We all line up to get food, and in lining up, it is
impossible, given the size of the dorm and how many people there are, to stay six feet
apart from one another.
7. When I see my dorm mates cough in my presence, I typically cover my
mouth or my nose with my jail uniform. This has happened a lot in my dorm. I am afraid
of retaliation by deputies if I say I need medication or treatment for potential COVID-19
symptoms.
8. Before April 10, 2020, no one in the jail had given me anything to protect
myself against COVID-19. I had not received any masks, hand sanitizer, or gloves. Early
in the morning on April 10, deputies came into the dorm, turned on all the lights, and
gave one mask to each person. No other information was provided about the masks.
9. We do not have soap dispensers or hand sanitizer inside the dorm. We have
limited access to gloves; I don’t get any gloves unless it’s an emergency and I ask the
guards for them. But the guards have not given all of us gloves.
10. Before we were given the masks, the only people who had masks were the
deputies and some (but not all) trustees. It concerns me that people outside our dorm
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DECLARATION OF BENITO VENEGAS -3-
come in and out of the dorm multiple times a day to conduct checks and to drop off our
meals, and they are not always wearing masks.
11. Each person is provided a free soap once when they enter, but I have used
mine up already. I typically buy one through the commissary about once a week.
12. About once a week, trustees from a different dorm typically come and
“clean” my cell. They are not always wearing masks.
13. I have a family outside, and if released, I will have support to help me get
the medical care I need.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California and the
United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 14th day of
April 2020, in Los Angeles, California.
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DECLARATION OF DYLAN VERNER-CRIST
I, Dylan Verner-Crist, declare:
1. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth herein, and if called as a
witness I could competently so testify.
2. I am an investigator with the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) of
Northern California.
3. On April 13, 2020, Stanislaus County Deputy District Attorney John Goold
held a press conference that was recorded by the Modesto Bee in an article of the same
date. On April 20, 2020, I transcribed Mr. Goold’s statement from the Modesto Bee’s
website. In his press statement, Mr. Goold stated that, in the opinion of the Stanislaus
County District Attorney’s Office, “even though bail has been set for zero dollars for a
wide variety of cases [by the emergency bail schedule], judges still retain discretion to set
bail in excess of the bail schedule and set it higher than zero dollars.” See Apr. 13, 2020
Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office Statement, available at
https://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article241979576.html, at 00:25-00:36.
During this press conference, Mr. Goold also explained that the Stanislaus County
District Attorney’s Office has been “reviewing and filing oppositions to several cases,
and several defendants trying to ask the court to not set it at zero dollars and keep those
people in custody or at least subject to when they post bail.” Id, 00:37-00:52.
4. On April 16, 2020, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason
Anderson released a press statement that was posted on the San Bernardino County
District Attorney’s Facebook page. I transcribed his press statement, which is available
at https://www.facebook.com/notes/san-bernardino-county-district-attorney/jail-inmates-
released-due-to-covid-19/10158352896679540/, on Monday, April 20, 2020. In his press
statement, Mr. Anderson stated that his office and the San Bernardino Sheriff’s are
“doing everything we can to ensure that, despite some of these orders that are coming
down from the Judicial Council, that we will object when people get released, that we
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will want to have hearings when people get released, that we want to ensure that inmates
who don’t deserve to get released, don’t get released and create a public safety problem
in our county…” Apr. 16, 2020 Statement of Jason Anderson, available at
https://www.facebook.com/notes/san-bernardino-county-district-attorney/jail-inmates-
released-due-to-covid-19/10158352896679540/, at 4:31-4:53. He also stated that, in his
opinion, “[p]eople who are in custody, they made a choice at the same time to commit
crimes against other people and there’s a price to be paid for that also. And perhaps that
price ought to be that the virus finds you where you were when it came into our
community, which was in custody, and that’s why I have a hard time saying we need to
let people out of custody when the virus comes in…” Id, 03:36-3:56.
5. On April 2, 2020, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco held a live press
conference that he posted on the Riverside County Sheriff’s Facebook page. I transcribed
portions of his press conference, which is available at
https://www.facebook.com/RiversideCountySheriff/videos/200294147931381/, on
Monday, April 20, 2020. During the press conference, Sheriff Bianco stated: “[W]e are
getting a lot of demands and requests for inmates getting released because they’re afraid
of them contracting [COVID-19]. If you don’t want to get this virus while you’re in
custody, don’t break the law. That’s really all I can tell you. You can’t get any more
plain than that. Don’t break the law, you won’t be in jail, and you won’t have to worry
about it, you can stay home with your family.” April 2, 2020 Riverside County Sheriff
Press Conference, available at
https://www.facebook.com/RiversideCountySheriff/videos/200294147931381/, at 18:20-
18:40.
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I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct, and that this declaration is executed at Berkeley, California
this 22nd day of April, 2020.
/s/ Dylan Verner-Crist Dylan Verner-Crist
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Declaration of Christine Voss
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DECLARATION OF CHRISTINE VOSS
I, Christine Voss, am an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of California under
Bar No.176584. I am employed as a Senior Deputy Public Defender for the Santa Barbara
Public Defender’s Office. In that capacity I am assigned to individuals who are housed in the
Santa Barbara County Jail. I have spoken to individuals at the Santa Barbara County Jail that
relayed information to me about the conditions at the jail since the outbreak of the novel
Coronavirus pandemic.
I am informed from multiple sources over a total of 15 years working in the Santa
Barbara criminal justice system that the jail is divided into multiple housing areas that have
varying degrees of security and interaction between inmates and staff. I have been informed
and believe that the Minimum-Security Facility (MSF also known as “the farm”) is a dorm
setting. This section of the jail is divided into separated “barracks.” The C-Barracks houses
individuals who are working in the jail in various jobs including the kitchen, laundry room, and
cleaning throughout the jail.
I have been informed that the C-Barracks house approximately 90 inmates in triple
decker bunk beds. These beds are spaced less than 6 feet apart in two rows. The two rows
are separated by approximately 6 feet, less than an average grocery store aisle, creating a
path that is the primary route for the 90 inmates to move throughout the housing area. This
area was full as of April 6, 2020 with every bed filled. On April 14, 2020, after several inmates
were released from the jail based on an emergency order resetting bail at $0, the C-Barracks
have reduced their population by approximately 5 inmates.
I am informed that the MSF also houses inmates that are segregated as a result of the
nature of their charges or background in the D-Barracks. These barracks mirror the
appearance of the C-Barracks but the inmates do not have as much access to various parts of
the jail. However, in order to communicate with their lawyers or probation staff they are moved
across the jail campus to the main jail to utilize the main jail court video system. When they
need to seek medical care, they are also moved across the campus to the medical unit in the
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main jail. As a result, they are touching surfaces that have been touched by inmates from
other units in the jail and interacting with staff from other areas of the jail.
I am informed that the beds in the barracks are constructed of metal frames and are
touched by not only bunkmates, but others in the dorm. The inmates use the frames to hang
their towels and other bedding on when not in use. These bed frames are not cleaned and the
inmates are not provided cleaning supplies to clean them. As people pass through and
congregate in this pathway they routinely touch each other’s beds and linens.
I am informed by multiple sources that the barracks share a community bathroom at the
back of the housing unit. There is a swinging door to get into and out of the bathroom that
people need to touch to push and pull open by hand to gain access to the bathroom. There
are approximately 19 toilets, 9 shower heads, 7 urinals and 15 sinks. The toilets, urinals and
sinks are positioned immediately next to each other with less than 1 foot of space separating
them. There are no walls or barriers separating these fixtures. Inmates literally use the
bathroom facilities, wash their hands, shave and brush their teeth standing shoulder to
shoulder.
I am informed by multiple sources that there is no soap provided in this bathroom.
Each inmate may have their own bar of soap that is to be used for all of their hygiene
purposes – hands, showering, hair washing, and cleaning their clothes if needed in between
the once weekly linen exchanges. I am informed that the jail distributes 1 business card sized
soap per week to inmates for this purpose although since the COVID-19 outbreak inmates
have occasionally received an additional bar. I am informed that inmates are inconsistent
about their hygiene. Some inmates do not wash their hands regularly or even after using the
bathroom facilities. There is no way to limit contact with these inmates because they all share
the same living space.
I am informed that individuals housed in the C-Barracks are assigned jobs that require
daily violations of the recommendations by the CDC, WHO, and our local government leaders.
I am informed that twice a day inmates with jobs in jail are lined up approximately one foot
apart, they are searched by hand before and after they attend to their jobs held throughout the
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jail. Although the correctional officers wear gloves to protect their own hands, they do not
change gloves in between touching each inmate, spreading cells or other contaminants from
person to person without knowing who may be positive and merely asymptomatic and
obviously breaching the six-foot social distancing guidelines. Inmates with jobs move about
the jail, from the laundry room and the kitchen to other housing units within the jail. I am
informed that inmates are assigned to distribute commissary and food every day, coming
within inches of other inmates and exchanging items.
Gloves are not distributed throughout the jail although occasionally they are provided
for certain tasks upon request and when available. I am informed that on approximately April
10, 2020 masks began to be distributed to inmates in the jail. Inmates are provided one mask
but they are only instructed to wear them for transportation to court or to other areas of the jail.
They are not worn in the housing units and are not worn consistently as individuals are moving
throughout the jail. I am informed that correctional officers and staff are not wearing masks
while engaging with inmates in the housing units, during searches, in the kitchen, laundry
room, and other areas of the jail.
I am informed that with the number of people in the MSF housing units it is impossible
to socially distance. Further, although floors are cleaned more regularly than prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic, there are many items in the housing units that are not being cleaned
including broom and mop handles, bed frames, tables and chairs in the day room, door
handles, door jambs, inmate property storage boxes, etc. The bathroom fixtures are cleaned
twice a day but there are not any cleaning supplies provided to clean surfaces in between
inmate use.
I am informed that despite still having two full barracks at the MSF, the jail has
substantially reduced the population in one of the barracks in the MSF. These barracks can
hold approximately 90 inmates and mirrors the C and D Barracks, however there are less than
a dozen inmates currently housed in that particular housing unit. None-the-less, the jail has
assigned these inmates to share bunk beds and utilize the bunk beds that are immediately
adjacent to each other despite the ability to spread out and socially distance.
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I am informed and believe that inmates in the MSF do not have a means to protect
themselves or others in the same manner that those of us in the community are able to protect
ourselves. These conditions did not present a significant issue prior to COVID-19 but based
on the medical information widely available to the general public, they place inmates at a high
risk for contagion and even death during this deadly pandemic in light of the fact that if an
outbreak occurs in these housing units it will be nearly impossible to control or limit exposure
under these circumstances.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct and those items
stated on information and belief are true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
DATED: April 14, 2020
________________________________ Christine Voss Senior Deputy Public Defender
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DECLARATION OF LEONARD WAKEFIELD – An Inmate in Santa Rita Jail, Alameda County
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I, LEONARD WAKEFIELD, declare:
1. I am currently an inmate in Santa Rita Jail, the County Jail for Alameda
County. I have been in Santa Rita since January 19, 2020.
2. I had been housed in Unit 7E, and in the 7 Unit, there had been a number of
individuals who had not been feeling well and removed. We do not know what happened to
then, but we all assumed it was the corona virus.
3. Since March 5, 2020, I started not feeling well. I was having body pains, I
had no energy and could hardly get up. I was having a hard time breathing. I asked to see the
doctor. I asked to be tested for the corona virus. The deputy took me to the doctor, who said I
was fine. The doctor did not get me tested for corona. I felt so weak and felt so bad that I could
not get out of my bed. The mornings were the worst. I could not get up to eat breakfast.
Lunches they put in my room. And generally, I dragged myself out for dinner. For five weeks,
I basically laid down and did nothing. I couldn’t call my wife. I couldn’t even get up to call my
attorney.
4. On April 14, 2020, the jail handed out electronic tablets. With the tablet in my
cell, I phoned Attorney Yolanda Huang. I called her and asked for help. I told her that I
believed I needed to be tested for the corona virus, and that I had been so sick, I could not get out
of bed and could not get up to go get my breakfast food try.
5. Later that day, the jail did in fact come and swab my nose and the jail told me
that the jail was going to move me to Housing Unit 8C, where everyone who had tested positive
would be moved. I didn’t want to move to 8C because the cells are dirty. The only thing the jail
is doing is moving us around. The deputy didn’t care.
6. The deputy told me I had no choice. He was dressed like an astronaut, in a
white space suit. He immediately slapped hand cuffs on me, and twisted my arm, and dragged
me to Housing Unit 8C. This despite the fact that I am feeling so poorly. When I arrived at
Housing Unit 8C, the first cell they put me in was so filthy, with garbage and dirt all over the cell
that I told them if they forced me to be in that cell, they would have to put me on suicide watch.
Then they put me in a cell that at least had the garbage removed.
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DECLARATION OF LEONARD WAKEFIELD – An Inmate in Santa Rita Jail, Alameda County
2
7. During this entire time, the nurses and doctors have done nothing to help me
except to come and take my vitals. When I tell them that my body hurts, and that I am having a
hard time breathing, all they give me is Tylenol. I can’t even get a cup of anything hot to drink.
No tea, no coffee. The only hot water I have access to is from the tap in my cell, which is just
lukewarm.
8. In Unit 8C, the shower does not work, there’s hardly any water and no water
pressure. Someone in a white astronaut suit opens my cell door and puts my food tray on the
floor, like I am a dog. My cell has not been cleaned. I have received no soap, and no hand
wipes.
9. On April 17, 2020, the jail informed me that I had tested positive for corona
virus.
10. In HU 8, we are all given one hour a day out of our cell. Otherwise, we are
locked up and alone 23 hours a day. During that one hour, we have the opportunity to get up and
use the phone. This corona virus comes in waves. Sometimes, I feel so bad and seem so
feverish, it is all I can do, to just lie down and endure. Other times, I feel better and can sit up.
During the times I can sit up, I look out the glass of my door to see what is going on. What I see
is that one person at a time is having POD time. I also see that inmates have no gloves, and are
touching the tables and phone, and that the phone is not sanitized between each inmate, and the
POD is not wiped down at all.
11. The food we are getting is almost inedible. It is served on plastic, reused
trays, and often the trays are dirty in which old food, that has not been washed off is underneath
the “new food” on top. Feeling bad, it is hard to eat anyway and even harder to eat the awful
stuff the Jail calls food.
12. The Jail is providing me with no medical treatment and nothing to make me
more comfortable.
I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the
United States that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.
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DECLARATION OF LEONARD WAKEFIELD – An Inmate in Santa Rita Jail, Alameda County
3
Because of the coronavirus, and my confinement, there are no legal visits
permitted and I was not able to sign this declaration in person. All information in this declaration
was relayed to Yolanda Huang on 4/14/20, 4.17/2020 and 4/18/2020. On April 18, 2020, Ms.
Huang read this declaration to me over the phone. I understood and verified its contents in full,
and authorized Yolanda Huang to sign the declaration on my behalf.
Executed on 4/18/2020 in Oakland, California.
By: Yolanda Huang, SBA104543 Law Office of Yolanda Huang on behalf of Leonard Wakefield
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DECLARATION OF SEAN SEABURN WELLS
I, Sean Seaburn Wells, hereby declare:
1. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and if called to testify I
could and would do so competently as follows:
2. I am 49 years old.
3. I am currently housed at the Theo Lacy Facility (“Theo Lacy”), which is part of the
Orange County Jail in Orange, California.
4. I have been in Orange County Sheriff’s Department (“OCSD”) custody since December
2019.
5. I was charged with one count of California Penal Code 496 (receiving stolen property).
6. I accepted a plea bargain in January 2020 and was sentenced to a four-year divided
sentence; one year in custody and three years on AB 109 post-community supervision.
7. My release date is June 7, 2020.
8. I am currently housed in a two-person cell with another individual. The cell we share is
about eight by six feet. It contains two bunks, a toilet, washbasin, drinking fountain, table and
two stools.
9. It is impossible for my cellmate and I to maintain six feet distance from each other when
we are confined in our cell, which is about 21 hours a day.
10. My cellmate and I eat three meals a day in our shared cell on a table approximately 18
inches from each other. Our knees touch when we sit on the bolt down stools.
11. My cellmate sleeps on the top bunk and I sleep on the bottom bunk. At most we are
about three feet away from each other. When we lay on our bunks, I can reach up and touch my
cellmate.
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12. On April 9, my cellmate was transported to the North Justice Center in Fullerton,
California for a court hearing. He returned to our shared cell about eight hours later. He told me
he came into close contact with about 20 other people during the day. I am concerned that he
may have been exposed to the virus. I feel scared and nervous sharing a small cell with him.
13. As of April 14, my cell mate and I share a dayroom and two showers with 16 other
people on average who are housed in the same housing sector. The sector consists of 16 two-
person cells. Eight cells make up the bottom tier, and an additional eight make up the top tier.
Currently, three two-person cells are occupied by two people, one of them by me and my
cellmate; 12 two-person cells are occupied by one person; and one two-person cell is vacant.
14. Custody staff typically run dayroom with four cells at a time. Right now, that can
include between four to eight people at a time. However, the common space we share is used by
up to a total of 18 people daily.
15. During dayroom, we can use the showers and telephones. Our housing sector includes
two showers and four telephones. It is impossible to maintain six feet distance from others when
using the telephones because they are about two feet apart from each other.
16. It is an unwritten rule that people in custody are responsible for cleaning the dayroom
and showers. The first group out to dayroom is tasked with cleaning. Cleaning supplies are only
provided to the first group, which means everyone else in the sector is unable to wipe the tables,
stools, and telephones, or sweep and mop and clean the showers after other groups use the
dayroom.
17. Both showers have some degree of mold growing on them.
18. Custody staff does not provide us with gloves or hand sanitizer.
19. I wash my hands as much as possible but do not have access to enough soap. Custody
staff provide us with a single hotel size bar of soap per week. My bar of soap runs out within a
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day if I use it to shower and wash my hands. People who do not have money on their books are
unable to purchase additional hygiene supplies and wind up having to shower with only water. I
have had to do this at least once before. It is a common experience for other people in my
housing sector.
20. It is impossible to maintain six feet distance from medical and custody staff. On April
13, I saw medical staff and sat about two feet away from them. A deputy stood immediately
outside the room. The door was open.
21. Meal distribution and pill call happen three times a day. Deputies, medical staff and
incarcerated workers distribute medication and meals through a tray slot on a glass door. The
tray slot is about three feet from the ground. When meals and medication are distributed,
deputies, medical staff and in custody workers are about a foot and a half away from us.
22. Although separated by a glass door, medical staff hand me and other people our
medication through the slot on the door. They hand us our pills in a plastic envelope/zip bag.
We open the plastic envelope/zip bag, retrieve our pills and return the envelope/zip bag to
medical staff. It is common for our hands to touch.
23. Although custody and medical staff are now wearing masks and gloves, they do not
change them throughout the day despite interacting with many people in custody, other staff,
and likely people outside of jail.
24. About a week and a half ago, custody staff gave us square-shaped pieces of torn sheets
to use as mouth/face coverings. Deputies made an announcement that the coverings are now
part of mandatory jail uniform. We have been using the same covering since then and are
expected to wash them on our own with the same bar of soap which is already insufficient.
25. I am under a lot of stress. I am concerned about the possibility of custody and medical
staff bringing in the virus from the outside. I am concerned that medical staff who deal with
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many other incarcerated individuals, particularly people who are sick, do not change their
gloves. I am afraid that they could be carriers of the virus. I am afraid of more people testing
positive for COVID-19 in OC jails. I am afraid about contracting the virus while in custody.
26. I am worried about my family and their wellbeing. If I were to be released, I would be
able to return to work immediately. I am a truck driver and considered an essential worker. I do
not want to lose my job. My family needs my paycheck now more than ever.
27. In March 2013, I was hit by a vehicle. I sustained several injuries, including a broken
right leg. I underwent surgery and my leg was pinned with titanium rods and screws.
28. Following the accident, my doctor prescribed Percocet, Oxycodone and Norco to me for
about three months. During that time, I became addicted to opioids.
29. I began opioid addiction treatment about a year ago while in the community. I have
continued my treatment while in OCSD custody. I take Subutex once a day.
30. I have a history of childhood asthma. I had moderate asthma from the age of 5 to 17.
During that time, I took oral steroids about once a week to help keep my bronchial tubes opens
and calm airway inflammation and swelling allowing me to breathe better. I would also use an
Albuterol inhaler for rescue purposes. I experienced the worst asthma attacks between the ages
of 5 to 7.
31. I have a 32-year history of smoking tobacco and cannabis. I started when I was in high
school.
32. About six months ago, I was hospitalized with pneumonia for about three days.
33. I filled out two inmate message slips requesting that OCSD review my case for early
release. The first on March 30, 2020 and the second on April 8, 2020. I received a response to
my first message noting my release date. The response to my second message detailed that I
would be screened for 30 days and notified if I qualified for early release.
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34. I am worried about my health and afraid of contracting COVID-19 while in custody.
35. I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the United
States that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. Executed
this 15 day of April, 2020 in Orange, California.
36. Because of the coronavirus, and my confinement, I was not able to sign this declaration
in person. The declaration was read to me, over the phone, by Jacob Reisberg on April 15, 2020.
I understood and verified its contents in full, and authorized Jacob Reisberg to sign the
declaration on my behalf. Executed on April 15, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
___/s/ Jacob Reisberg_______________ Signed by Jacob Reisberg on behalf of Sean S. Wells
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DECLARATION OF DENEAL YOUNG -1-
DECLARATION OF DENEAL YOUNG
I, DeNeal Young, hereby declare and say:
1. I make this declaration of my own free will. I have personal knowledge of
the facts set forth herein and if called as a witness, could and would testify competently
thereto.
2. I am currently incarcerated in Men’s Central Jail (“MCJ”) in Los Angeles,
California. I have been incarcerated at MCJ since November 26, 2019, awaiting a
resentencing hearing. Prior to being transferred to MCJ, I was incarcerated at a state
prison in Solano County.
3. My resentencing hearing date was scheduled for March 19, 2020, and has
now been delayed indefinitely due to COVID-19.
4. I am a 49-year old Black man confined in a wheelchair due to blood clots in
my legs. I have multiple underlying health conditions. I suffer from severe obesity.
Doctors in prison and in MCJ have told me that I have an undiagnosed heart condition. In
or around February of this year, the medical staff at MCJ performed an ultrasound in my
legs. This coincided with chest pains that I started having in February. On April 7, I
received the results of the ultrasound which revealed roughly 45% obstruction of blood
flow in one leg and 35% obstruction of blood flow in the other leg. The doctor informed
me that this puts me at risk of heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and stroke. Due to the
rapid progression of the obstruction, I have lost my ability to walk and am currently in a
wheelchair. I was told that I needed to be “sent out” to the county hospital immediately
for an emergency surgery. However, the doctor at MCJ has since told me that they cannot
send me out and they don’t know when they will be able to send me out due to COVID-
19 restrictions. They state, “Everything has to go through Trump.” With each day that
passes, I am afraid that if I contract COVID-19 in the jail, my compromised medical
condition would put me at a higher risk of complications from the illness.
5. I am housed in a 3-man cell in the Medical unit of MCJ. There are three
bunks and a toilet. There is roughly one feet between each bed. There is very little
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DECLARATION OF DENEAL YOUNG -2-
privacy or personal space; we use the bathroom in each other’s presence and touch all of
the same surfaces. It is impossible for me to keep six feet apart from my cell mates. I get
my medications 3x/day when the nurse comes to the door. The nurse is always
accompanied by a deputy. They open the door and I walk to the doorway where they
hand me my medication. They are always less than 6 feet away. It’s a different deputy all
three times a day and a different nurse at least two times a day. I get my food 3x/day
when a deputy and a trustee comes to the door. It is a different trustee each time of day
and a different deputy each time of day. I also encounter deputies when I go to the
shower 3x/week (Sun, Tues, Thurs). I have been to the doctor four times since I have
been incarcerated here at MCJ. The deputies bring me to the doctor by walking me down
a hallway about 50-feet from my cell. I have to wait in line behind eight people on
average. We are all sitting on the bench (and I am next to the bench in my wheelchair). It
is not possible to have six feet of distance on the bench. We are usually waiting for about
an hour and a half to see the doctor.
6. I want to do everything I can to protect myself against COVID-19 but the
guards and nurses have not given me adequate protective gear to protect myself against
COVID-19. No one had the jail has provided me with any written information about the
virus, and I do not see any signs around my cell or at the jail about how to protect myself
against contracting it or spreading it if I have it. The only information I get is from
reading the newspaper or watching the news on TV.
7. On or around March 15, 2020, I was exposed to someone who was coughing
aggressively. The person was in front of the nurse’s station, where I was waiting to get
my blood pressure taken. A few days later, my throat became scratchy and I also
developed a cough. On March 20, my temperature was taken by a nurse. I registered a
temperature of 99.5, which is higher than my regular body temperature and considered to
be a fever for me. Although I showed symptoms of COVID-19, I was not placed in a
separate cell, quarantined, or provided any medication. I was also not given a COVID-19
test.
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DECLARATION OF DENEAL YOUNG -3-
8. I have personally heard of anyone in the jail who has been able to get a
COVID-19 test despite showing symptoms, but deputies have said to me that “inmates
upstairs have COVID-19.”
9. Since I have been in the medical unit, I have seen only one thorough
cleaning of my cell. Two times a week, trustees from a different dorm will come into my
cell and sweep or throw out the trash. I do not observe them using any cleaning products
when they clean the cell. Shared surfaces within my cell include our single phone, door,
sink, toilet, and walls. I clean the surfaces myself. I have to use my own soap, which I put
on a rag to clean the shared surfaces. The jail does not give me any disinfectant supplies
to clean these shared surfaces. No one cleans the shared surfaces between uses.
10. Each person is provided a small soap bar upon detention, which dissolves
quickly after a few uses. I was handed a bar of soap by a deputy when I was first
transferred to MCJ; I have never received a second bar of soap from the jail in my five
months residing at MCJ. Instead, I have to buy my own soap. To buy a bar of soap, I
have to pay upwards of $1.45 for a bar of Irish Spring, $2.11 for a bar of Dove, or $5.05
for a bar of Neutrogena, which comes out of my commissary money for food and other
necessities.
11. I shower three times a week. The showers are shared with the entire module.
I have never observed anyone cleaning the shared showers. In fact, when I shower, I am
told to clean the shower myself, take out my trash, and wipe down the area that I use. I
have never been provided any special cleaning supplies to do this. I usually just take my
foot and wipe down the shower area before I can shower. I typically see the following in
the shower area that I have to drag out with my foot: clothes left over from a previous
shower, debris, trash, dirty diapers, hair, spit, and phlegm. I am in a wheelchair so this is
difficult for me to do. The showers are shared so the door, the faucet, the rails, the shower
walls are all common surfaces.
12. I have observed the deputies try to confiscate my cell mate’s CPAP machine,
but he has refused to give it up because he needs it to breathe while sleeping. I have heard
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DECLARATION OF DENEAL YOUNG -4-
of other people in the medical ward whose CPAP machines were taken from them
because of COVID-19, but who are not told what else they can do about their breathing
problems.
13. When I wash my hands, I have to use my shirt to wipe my hands. I am not
provided any paper towels inside my cell to wipe my hands clean after washing them. I
get laundry once every Monday. Most of the time they don’t have my size (5X top, 7X
pants).
14. On April 9, because news of COVID-19’s rapid spread was causing me to
fear for my life, I submitted a grievance form asking for a mask and hand sanitizer. I also
requested a release so that I can get the medical care that I need in a timely manner. I
explained in the grievance, “This grievance is for me to receive a mask, gloves and hand
sanitizer and to be released from custody to go to the hospital to get medical care
attention and social distancing living conditions to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
15. On April 10, at around 2am in the morning, guards came into my cell and
handed each of us a face mask. I was not given any directions about how to wear it or
when to wear it, or if we will be getting replacement face masks after we finish using the
ones they gave us.
16. On April 10, in the daytime, I was visited by a Senior Deputy. I asked him to
submit my grievance, and he agreed to do so. He told me that he reviewed my grievance
form and that that the deputies would not be giving our hand sanitizer or gloves. He also
said that my request to be released was a custody issue and he could not do anything
about that.
17. Before April 10, I repeatedly asked nurses, deputies and senior deputies for a
face mask and was told no. I heard in response, "You are safe because you are in here." I
would sometimes receive the response, “We don’t have no face masks.” Jail staff, nurses,
trustees and other people physically enter my cell at least five times a day to pass out
food, medication, and to perform welfare checks. Before April 10, the only people who
had masks are some (but not all) of the deputies, trustees, and nurses. Not all of the
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DECLARATION OF DENEAL YOUNG -5-
deputies wear masks. I have seen deputies cough and sneeze near my cell.
18. On April 15, I again submitted a grievance form stating my concern on
behalf of all prisoners at MCJ. The grievance states, ““This grievance is for myself and
all inmates in LA County Jails. The jails fail to maintain conditions necessary to prevent
COVID-19 by e.g., ignoring CDC guidance and not providing masks, sanitization
supplies, proper cleaning, soap/paper towels, social distancing, testing, and treatment.”
To date, I have not received a response.
19. If released, I will go to my aunt’s house in Paramount, CA. My aunt is
willing and able to come pick me up at MCJ. My aunt is a nurse and works at a hospital
in Marina Del Rey; hence, she is familiar with local hospitals in the Los Angeles area
where I might be able to timely secure the medical help I need. If released, I have many
more options than I have within the jail to find a medical provider to treat the blood clots
in my legs and perform urgent surgery as needed.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California and the
United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 23rd day of
April 2020, in Los Angeles, California. DeNeal Young
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DECLARATION OF COUNSEL
1. I, Marianne Zawadzki, am an attorney in the Office of the Santa Barbara County Public
Defender. The Public Defender represents Ricky Pacheco.
2. I spoke with Mr. Pacheco on April 17, at about 12:00 pm. He called me from a phone in the jail in
a room he was waiting in following his sentencing via Zoom video.
3. Mr. Pacheco was arrested on February 28. He was housed in the South Dorm. Mr. Pacheco
estimates the dimensions of the South Dorm are approximately 30 feet by 30 feet. When Mr.
Pacheco was first arrested there were about 40 men in the South Dorm and some had to sleep on
the floor. Mr. Pacheco reported that now there are closer to 20 and there are enough beds.
However, he estimates that each bunk bed is less than 5 feet apart.
4. Mr. Pacheco Reports that the only major change he has noticed in day to day jail operations in
the last week or so is the doling out of medication in larger batches for self-administration, so that
inmates are not regularly visiting jail medical for the administration of their medication.
5. Between 7 and 10 days ago Mr. Pacheco reported receiving a painte’rs mask. He was instructed
to wear the mask anytime he left his housing unit, but not necessarily when he was in the housing
unit. Mr. Pacheco reported that some of the correctional officers wear masks and some don’t.
6. Mr. Pacheco reported that the South Dorm has 3 working sinks and that he was instructed at
some point regarding handwashing and not touching his face.
7. Mr. Pacheco reported that the housing unit he is in receives unknown chemical cleaning agents
for inmate use about once per day.
8. Mr. Pacheco’s biggest concern was the inaccessibility of medical attention in the Jail. Mr. Pacheco
reported that some medical kites get answered and some do not and that response time vary
widely. Mr. Pacheco is diabetic and was working closely with doctors before his arrest to manage
his diabetes, testing his blood sugar daily. Mr. Pacheco reported that the jail stopped testing him
every day to determine if he needed insulin and recently just began administering him metformin.
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9. Mr. Pacheco also has several black spots on his abdomen. Immediately prior to arrest his doctor
expressed some urgency in getting the spots checked for cancer. Mr. Pacheco has expressed this
to jail medical but has not been able to receive any diagnostic services in the jail.
10. Mr. Pacheco also reported he witnessed another inmate who appeared to have a stroke returned
to the dorm with no outside medical attention. A second inmate became upset due to pain in a
leg that had recently been operated one and was denied any medical attention for the pain. Mr.
Pacheco witnessed the inmate with the post-op leg was placed in an isolation cell and written up.
Signed this 17th day of April, 2020 in the city of Pismo Beach.
____________________________________
Marianne Zawadzki
Declarant
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WILLIAM S. FREEMAN (SBN 82002) [email protected] SEAN RIORDAN (SBN 255752) [email protected] ANGÉLICA SALCEDA (SBN 296152) [email protected] AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: (415) 621-2493 Facsimile: (415) 255-8437 Attorneys for Petitioners-Plaintiffs Additional Counsel Listed on Following Page
MANOHAR RAJU (SBN 193771) Public Defender MATT GONZALEZ (SBN 153486) Chief Attorney FRANCISCO UGARTE (CA SBN 241710) [email protected] GENNA ELLIS BEIER (CA SBN 300505) [email protected] EMILOU H. MACLEAN (CA SBN 319071) [email protected] OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER SAN FRANCISCO 555 Seventh Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Direct: 415-553-9319 Fax: 415-553-9810
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION ANGEL DE JESUS ZEPEDA RIVAS, BRENDA RUIZ TOVAR, LAWRENCE MWAURA, LUCIANO GONZALO MENDOZA JERONIMO, CORAIMA YARITZA SANCHEZ NUÑEZ, JAVIER ALFARO, DUNG TUAN DANG,
Petitioners-Plaintiffs,
v.
DAVID JENNINGS, Acting Director of the San Francisco Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; MATTHEW T. ALBENCE, Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT; GEO GROUP, INC.; NATHAN ALLEN, Warden of Mesa Verde Detention Facility, Respondents-Defendants.
CASE NO. DECLARATION OF ANGEL ZEPEDA
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BREE BERNWANGER* (NY SBN 5036397) [email protected] TIFANEI RESSL-MOYER (SBN 319721) [email protected] HAYDEN RODARTE (SBN 329432) [email protected] LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA 131 Steuart St #400 San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: (415) 814-7631 JUDAH LAKIN (SBN 307740) [email protected] AMALIA WILLE (SBN 293342) [email protected] LAKIN & WILLE LLP 1939 Harrison Street, Suite 420 Oakland, CA 94612 Telephone: (510) 379-9216 Facsimile: (510) 379-9219 JORDAN WELLS (SBN 326491) [email protected] STEPHANIE PADILLA (SBN 321568) [email protected] AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1313 West Eighth Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone: (213) 977-9500 Facsimile: (213) 977-5297
MARTIN S. SCHENKER (SBN 109828) [email protected] COOLEY LLP 101 California Street, 5th Floor San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: (415) 693-2000 Facsimile: (415) 693-2222 TIMOTHY W. COOK (Mass. BBO# 688688)* [email protected] FRANCISCO M. UNGER (Mass. BBO# 698807)* [email protected] COOLEY LLP 500 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 Telephone: (617) 937-2300 Facsimile: (617) 937-2400
Attorneys for Petitioners-Plaintiffs
*Motion for Admission Pro Hac Vice Forthcoming
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DECLARATION OF ANGEL DE JESUS ZEPEDA RIVAS
I, Angel de Jesus Zepeda Rivas, declare the following based on my personal knowledge:
1. I make this declaration from my personal knowledge and, if called to testify to these facts,
could and would do so competently.
2. My full name is Angel de Jesus Zepeda Rivas. I was born in El Salvador and I am 32
years old. I have been in the United States since 2008. I have a two-year-old US citizen daughter. Her
mother and I have been in a committed relationship for several years but are not married. I have a good
work history. I worked for over two years for My Move.
3. I have been detained at Yuba County Jail in Marysville, CA since November 21, 2019,
when ICE came to my house to detain me. I have not been given a bond by ICE, and the judge cannot
grant me bond until I have been detained for 6 months.
4. I am in withholding only proceedings, as my prior removal in absentia prevents me from
seeking asylum. I passed my reasonable fear interview, as the asylum officer found I have a reasonable
fear of torture. From around 2002-2004, I endured sexual and physical abuse by Barrio 18 gang
members who wanted me to sell drugs for them at my Christian school. They called me “marica,” a
derogatory word meaning “faggot.” My friends and I refused, so they subjected us to sexual and
physical abuse. We tried to tell the police, but the police did not help us. I fled to the United States.
Because I didn’t report a change in my address properly, I was ordered removed in absentia. I was only
17 years old. I was deported from the United States in 2007. Upon returning to El Salvador, I was again
threatened and beaten up. I was also assaulted by police. I have a head injury and still suffer headaches
from one of the attacks. Afraid for my life, I returned to the United States in 2008.
5. I have no criminal convictions and to my knowledge have never been charged with a
crime. In late summer 2018, I was arrested because I happened to be near the scene of a bar fight. I was
released quickly and there were no charges brought against me.
6. I have type 2 diabetes. I was diagnosed around early 2019, prior to being detained at
Yuba. I was taking medication and had my diabetes under control at the time I was detained. When I
got to Yuba, I told the medical staff that I had diabetes and was taking medicine to control it. They told
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me they would keep me under medical review. For about five days after that, they took my blood from
my finger, and my blood sugar levels were okay. But I think that was because I had been taking
medication to control the diabetes for so long.
7. About two weeks after I was detained, my body started feeling really hot and I got
constant nose bleeds. Those were symptoms I’d experienced before I was diagnosed with diabetes. I
went to see medical staff, and I remember that they pricked my finger to test my blood sugar. I
remember it was high then, and they tested it for the next two days, and it started to come down. I could
see the number on the little machine that reads your blood sugar levels. They told me not to eat any
sweets, like the desserts they give for food or sell at the commissary. But I wasn’t given any
medication.
8. From December and February, I would sometimes feel hot in my body and feel really
dizzy. In February, I remember that I saw medical staff and my blood sugar levels were high. They told
me I could exercise or take medicine. I remember my doctor outside of Yuba telling me that exercising
could help, so I decided to try exercising. They didn’t give me any more information, just to have a
daily exercise routine. But they didn’t give me a routine to follow. I tried to do exercise. I would run up
and down the stairs, and with some other detainees, we’d do pushups and sit ups. The most exercise
you can do is run up and down the stairs, because there isn’t any other space. The space on the roof
where we go for “outside” time is very small, and there isn’t enough room to run or really do exercise. I
was doing this exercise routine about three days a week until everyone in my pod got sick. Now, I can’t
exercise because my feet are so swollen and painful. It is also really hard to do exercise when you feel
depressed.
9. Since February 28, 2020, I have submitted at least ten requests to see the doctor. I have
saved copies of many of these requests, but have thrown some away. On March 5, 2020, I asked to see
a doctor because I was feeling hot all through my body and feeling a tingling sensation and numbness,
all the way from my feet through my chest. Two or three days later, I saw the medic, they took my
blood pressure and I was sent back to my pod. On March 20, I requested again to see a medic because
the heat in my body and tingling hadn’t gone away, and on top of that, I felt like I couldn’t catch my
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breath and felt a stabbing sensation in my chest. I was really scared. A few days later, the medical staff
took my blood pressure again and sent me back to my Pod. I don’t remember them telling me what my
blood pressure was at that time.
10. For the past two weeks or so, my feet have become so swollen that I am currently unable
to walk normally. This swelling starts at my knees all the way to my feet. I also continue to feel like my
body is hot, and like I have tingling and numbness all over my body. I requested to see the doctor again
on April 9th, and the medical staff said they would do an x-ray. I told them that I hadn’t injured myself
and that these were symptoms of my diabetes. I believe they drew my blood then, and the day after I
saw medical staff, they told me I am pre-diabetic and gave me Metformin. But the pain and swelling in
my feet didn’t go away, so I asked to see the doctor again on April 15th. Instead, they took me for x-
rays. I haven’t gotten results from the x-rays.
11. Since I came to Yuba, I have also been diagnosed with hypertension. This was first
discovered about two weeks ago, when they took my blood pressure and it was over 160. Since then,
across a number of tests, it hasn’t gone below 160. Medical staff have told me this means I have high
blood pressure. I remember a recent reading of my blood pressure was 163, and I am having trouble
breathing. Sometime around April 12th I began taking medication for hypertension. On the morning of
April 18, my blood pressure was taken again and it was 185. They took it again and it was 176. Medical
staff gave me a pill that they said would help bring my blood pressure down. They said it was related to
my swollen feet. Later in the afternoon, they took my blood pressure again, and it had gone up to 190.
I’m really scared. I was feeling a lot of pressure in my chest, and I’m worried I’m going to have a heart
attack. My feet are still swollen. I don’t understand how, when I came to Yuba I had no symptoms and
I was feeling healthy, and now five months later, I have high blood pressure and so much pain.
12. When they take my blood pressure, I see them taking another person’s blood pressure
right before me, and then they don’t clean the cuff, and take my blood pressure. And that’s directly on
my skin.
13. I also have allergies and take medication for that. At times, my allergies make it difficult
to breathe, cause me to sneeze, give me a very runny nose, cause a very thick mucus in my sinuses, or
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make me very congested. I have been taking allergy medication at Yuba since around the middle of
April, but it hasn’t helped yet. I also suffer from recurring frequent headaches and sometimes
migraines, due to an injury from when I was physically assaulted in El Salvador. The headaches get
very bad at times and it’s really difficult. I have been given ibuprofen and Tylenol at Yuba, but neither
help with the pain. All the noise here inside make it worse. I spend a lot of time lying down to try to
relax but the pain doesn’t go away.
14. At Yuba County Jail, I am housed in C Pod. Before C Pod, I was in B Pod. They are set
up in the same way. There are about 37 people here, and it’s really hard to get away from people and
find calm. It is impossible at any time during the day or night for me to be socially distant from other
people. The place is just too small for so many people.
15. When I arrived, this unit was full, with 50 people. There are two levels in C Pod. On the
first floor are all the bunk beds. The beds are less than a meter apart. Right now where I’m sleeping, I
am on the top bunk, and since I moved into a corner, there is one bunk bed that is empty next to me,
and then in the next bed there is someone else. But that is rare. All the lower bunks are taken and
almost everyone is sleeping with someone in the bed next to them. Although I’m on the top bunk and
there isn’t someone in the bed next to me on the top bunk, there is someone on the bottom bunk below
me. He is about one meter away from me. There are 25 bunk beds in total, and all of the bottom bunks
are occupied because many people have injuries or pain that keeps them from getting in the top bunk.
So they are assigned a lower bunk.
16. On the second floor are the tables, where we eat and gather. The tables each seat 5 or 6
people each and are at most 1.5 meters apart. The tables are made of metal and are bolted to the floor.
The metal benches are also affixed to the floor and you cannot move them. Even without 50 people,
there aren’t enough tables for us to be able to sit far enough apart. We are sitting right next to each
other, without much distance. Some people now eat in their beds. But every time I go to eat, I am
within two meters of other people.
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17. I know the distance between the tables and beds because we’ve measured it. There are
people in C Pod who have worked in construction, and so we’ve counted the distance between the
tables and the beds using our feet.
18. We get soap every two or three days. They are tiny bars of soap. It’s not enough. They
give us a cleaning liquid to wash the bathrooms, which is really harsh and smells very strong of
chemicals. Since we don’t have enough soap, we use that to wash our hands. When we use that on our
bare hands, it burns.
19. We have to do all the cleaning. Daily, we sweep, mop, and clean the bathrooms. The
showers are disgusting. Even if when we use the disinfectant, and clean them every day, they’re still
dirty. But we don’t get any protection to clean, not even gloves for the harsh chemicals.
20. Staff wear own masks and gloves, but me and other detainees do not have access to them.
When we have asked for gloves and masks, they have only said “maybe tomorrow,” but we never get
them.
21. There are only two urinals. There is often a line to use the urinal, especially in the
mornings when we first wake up. And people are one after another in line. That’s the same at night,
when everyone needs to use the sinks to brush our teeth. It feels impossible to maintain distance.
22. We haven’t been told anything about the virus. About three weeks ago, they put up a flier
that says there is free soap. Then they put up a poster about the symptoms of COVID-19 but no one has
told us about the virus or what we should do. About two weeks ago, a Sargent came by C Pod. There
were four of us sitting at a table on the second floor. He looked at us and said, “guys, keep your
distance. Six feet,” and then casually walked away. We don’t have anywhere else to be. We see on the
news that we are supposed to maintain six feet of distance, but this was the first time that anyone at the
facility had told us.
23. When we go to see the medical staff, they call our names and we walk about 30 steps
down a hallway to the pharmacy. We’re one after another as we walk. They open the door and we sit in
another hallway that they use as a waiting room. The chairs used to be right next to each other, but on
April 18th for the first time, the chairs were spaced farther apart. On that day, there were three of us that
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went to the clinic from C Pod, and there were two other people from B pod. The Sargent came by, with
some other officials I didn’t recognize. They had masks and they were spraying what smelled like
bleach all over. They shut us in a small room while they sprayed. There was a mattress on the floor and
some sheets. That room is probably three meters by three meters, and the five of us were in there for
maybe five minutes, without any protection like masks.
24. To deliver our medication, staff come twice a day, in the morning and again in the
afternoon. There are probably 15 people taking medications. In the morning, they come early, maybe
around 6am. They call our names, and we get up to get our medications. Before, we would all get up
and stand in a line, one after another, to get our medication. About a week ago, there was some kind of
argument between the officer and a detainee, so now they call us up by name, one-by-one. In the
afternoon, when they come to deliver medications, we basically have get in line. With their masks on
and everyone awake and talking, its much harder to hear them, so we have to gather closer together.
25. They have started taking our temperatures every morning. I think this has been happening
for at least the past two weeks. It’s in the early morning. They wake us up, and everyone gets in line.
Since people are still half asleep, we don’t think about it and one person is right behind the next. The
nurse and the guard have gloves and a mask on, but they don’t say anything about people standing so
close together. They don’t change their gloves or masks, and they use the same thermometer.
Sometimes they use an under-the-tongue reader. They also use a machine that you insert your pointer
finger in, and it reads your temperature. I don’t think they clean the machine between detainees. And
then we see the nurse and guard go to the next pod, and take their temperatures, too. We see that those
people are in line one behind the next, too.
26. I also worry about our clothes and our sheets, that they aren’t cleaned well. They take our
clothes to laundry every two or three days. When our clothes get taken to the laundry, they sometimes
come back really stinky. It's like they don’t use laundry detergent. So many people prefer to wash their
own clothes, in the shower or the sink. When we get clothes that are in decent condition, like ones that
aren’t like beggars’ clothes with holes and no elastic, we wash those ourselves in the shower and try to
hold onto them for more time. Our sheets are the same way. They smell bad a lot of the time, too. Lots
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of guys here have rashes all over, I have a rash right now on my chest. It's like a ton of little spider bites
all over. Once, I saw an officer drop a food tray on the ground, and then grab a sheet from the laundry
bin to clean it up with. Then, the officer threw the sheet straight back in the laundry bin.
27. About a month ago, someone came into C Pod with a cough and a fever. And then another
person seemed to get sick, and since we can’t stay far enough away from each other and don’t have any
kind of protection or enough soap, in the end about 15 people were sick.
28. I got what felt like the flu, too. I got a fever, cough, and body ache. The cough was bad,
and I felt short of breath. I didn’t want to get out of bed for days and I didn’t feel strong enough to
walk. I just went to get food, and then back to lay down. I felt like that for maybe four days. They gave
us some medication, we weren’t told what, and I slowly started to feel better. They didn’t do any tests.
The original person that was put in C Pod with symptoms was removed from the pod, but only after
many others had gotten sick.
29. About three weeks ago, they brought a new person into C Pod. He told us he came from
Santa Rita jail. It just so happened that the same day, I went to see the nurse for my allergies. I was
worried, because we didn’t know what kind of precautions they were taking with new people, and we
all are afraid of what could happen if someone with the virus comes in. So I asked the nurse what steps
they were taking, and about this new detainee. She told me that the person had been in quarantine for
two weeks before being placed in C Pod. When I went back to my pod, I asked him if he had been
quarantined, and he told me that he had only been in isolation for six hours after arriving at the facility.
30. On Friday, April 17, 2020, another new person from Santa Rita Jail was brought to Yuba
and put in C Pod. I talked with him, and he told me he has been at Yuba for about two weeks. He was
in booking by himself for five days, then he went to the F Tank, and then he was brought to C Pod.
31. It is incredibly frightening to be away from my daughter and my partner during this time. I
am terrified I will get the virus. My daughter was hospitalized in early April for something unrelated to
COVID-19. It was terrifying not to be there for her. I am afraid, because I’m far from my family. I
don’t want anything to happen to me or to my family. I feel pretty desperate. There are times when I’m
in bed and I cry, because I’m scared and far away from my little girl. It’s really hard.
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32. If I am released, I would go stay with my partner’s 23-year-old US citizen daughter in
Oakland to be in quarantine and protect my family. I am committed to sheltering in place as required by
state and local ordinances and complying with any conditions of release.
33. I understand that, as a class representative, I represent the interests of everyone in the class,
and not just myself. I understand I need to stay informed about what is happening with my case and stay
in touch with my attorney to give them information they need. I am committed to being a class
representative because I know how dangerous it is to be here, and I want all detained immigrants to
benefit from this case just as much as I do. I have never served as a class representative in any prior
action.
I, Angel de Jesus Zepeda Rivas, declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and
correct to the best of my recollection. I sign this from Marysvillle, California.
Date: April 18, 2020 //s// Angel de Jesus Zepeda Rivas
Angel de Jesus Zepeda Rivas
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CERTIFICATE OF INTERPRETATION AND AFFIRMATION
I, Theodora Simon, certify that I am fluent in Spanish and English and that I am
competent to interpret between these languages. I further certify that I have read the foregoing to
Angel de Jesus Zepeda Rivas in Spanish. I further declare that I am competent to render this
interpretation and that I would testify to the same under the penalty of perjury if I were called
upon to do so.
I further certify that on April 18, 2020 I read the foregoing to Angel de Jesus Zepeda
Rivas and that he affirmed that the foregoing is true and correct. I have not been able to obtain a
signature from Angel de Jesus Zepeda Rivas because Yuba Detention Center is located
approximately two hours away from my home by car, and at the time I reviewed the foregoing
declaration with him, the county where I reside was, and remains, under a “shelter in place”
order.
Date: April 18, 2020 //s// Theodora J Simon
Theodora J Simon
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DECLARATION OF VERONICA PRATT
I, Veronica Pratt, hereby declare:
I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and if called to testify I could
and would do so competently as follows:
1. I am 34 years old.
2. I am living with HIV and hepatitis C.
3. I have been in custody in the Riverside County jail system since September 2019. I am
housed at the Southwest Detention Center, also known as the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center, in
Murrieta, California.
4. I am a transgender woman and I have been going by the name Veronica for some time,
but I was booked under my original legal name, Kevin Pratt.
5. I live in a housing unit made up of 32 two-person cells. The unit has been fully occupied
since I have been in it; whenever someone leaves the unit, their bed is promptly refilled with a
new person.
6. The cells are all about 6 feet by 10 feet. The bunk beds in the cells are about 4 feet apart,
and I share a toilet and a sink with my cellmate. During the time that we are in our cells every
day it is physically impossible to stay six feet apart from my cellmate.
7. I have been sick for approximately the past 11 days with a cough, among other
symptoms. It is painful for me to be exposing my cellmate to my coughing, but there is nothing
I can do about it because our cell is so small, and our beds are so close together.
8. During my recent illness I have been experienced a persistent cough, fever, chills, body
aches, and a loss of my senses of smell and taste and my appetite. The past couple of days, I
have been coughing up blood. Even though these symptoms are consistent with a diagnosis of
COVID-19 and I am at high risk from COVID-19 because I am living with HIV, I have been
unable to see a doctor and have never been tested for COVID-19. I have been told by a nurse
that the protocol in this jail is only to take people to medical for testing who had higher fevers
than mine. My temperature was repeatedly measured at between 99 and 100 degrees after I had
taken Tylenol.
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9. For medical treatment of my illness thus far, I have received a “cold setup,” consisting
of Tylenol, Sudafed, and Mucinex. I have also been offered salt for a salt water gargle. I have
been getting cough drops from commissary, but I have to pay for them, and am only allowed to
purchase up to two packs per week.
10. Normally each day, the deputies let up to half of the housing unit into the dayroom for
about an hour at a time, three to six times per day. Because there were up to 32 of us in a
relatively small space it was impossible for us to remain six feet apart from other people. For
example, there are only three phones in the dayroom, which are about 3 feet apart. There is a
constant demand for the phones, especially with family visitation suspended for the past several
weeks, so it has been impossible to use the phone and maintain six feet of separation from
others who were also using the phone.
11. Since Saturday, April 11, this facility has been on quarantine lockdown, meaning that
we are no longer allowed to use the dayroom as a group. People incarcerated here are being kept
in our cells at least 23 hours per day. One or two cells at a time (meaning two to four people)
are let out of our cells to order commissary, make phone calls, or take a shower, for a total of
about 15 minutes per day. The rest of the time, we must stay in our cells in very close proximity
to our cellmates. We eat our meals in our cells.
12. People incarcerated in this jail do not have access to hand sanitizer or gloves. For the
first several weeks of the COVID-19 public health emergency, we did not have access to face
masks, and in late March I asked a sergeant about getting masks and his response was to laugh
at me. During the week of April 6, face masks were distributed and we were told that wearing
them was mandatory while in the dayroom. We were also told that the supply of masks
available is very limited and that anyone who lost or damaged their mask would have to go
without one going forward.
13. People incarcerated in this jail have very limited access to soap and to cleaning products
with which we can clean and disinfect surfaces in our cells, the dayroom, and the shower area.
14. I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California and the United
States that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.
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Because of the coronavirus, and my confinement, I was not able to sign this declaration in
person. The declaration was read to me, over the phone, by Amanda Goad on April 14, 2020. I
understood and verified its contents in full, and authorized Amanda Goad to sign the declaration
on my behalf. Executed on April 14, 2020 in Riverside, California.
________________________________________
Signed by Amanda C. Goad
on behalf of Veronica Pratt
Digitally signed by [email protected] DN: [email protected] Date: 2020.04.14 11:01:11 -07'00'
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SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY DOCKET NO. 084230
FILED MAR 2 2 2020
~d~·· CRIMINAL ACTION
In the Matter of the Request to Commute or Suspend County Jail
Sentences CONSENT ORDER
This matter having come before the Court on the request for relief by the
Office of the Public Defender (see attached letter dated March 19, 2020),
seeking the Court's consideration of a proposed Order to Show Cause (see
attached) designed to commute or suspend county jail sentences currently being
served by county jail inmates either as a condition of probation for an indictable
offense or because of a municipal court conviction; and
The Court, on its own motion, having relaxed the Rules of Court to permit
the filing of the request for relief directly with the Supreme Court, based on the
dangers posed by Coronavirus disease 19 ("COVID-19"), and the statewide
impact of the nature of the request in light of the Public Health Emergency and
State of Emergency declared by the Governor. See Executive Order No. 103
(2020) (Mar. 9, 2020); and 766
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The Office of the Attorney General, the County Prosecutors Association,
the Office of the Public Defender, the American Civil Liberties Union of New
Jersey having engaged in mediation before the Honorable Philip S. Carchman,
P.J.A.D. (ret.); and
The parties having reviewed certifications from healthcare professionals
regarding the profound risk posed to people in correctional facilities arising
from the spread of COVID-19; and
The parties agreeing that the reduction of county jail populations, under
appropriate conditions, is in the public interest to mitigate risks imposed by
COVID-19; and
It being agreed to by all parties as evidenced by the attached duly executed
consent form;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that
A. No later than 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, except as provided
in paragraph C, any inmate currently serving a county jail sentence (1)
as a condition of probation, or (2) as a result of a municipal court
conviction, shall be ordered released. The Court’s order of release shall
include, at a minimum, the name of each inmate to be released, the
inmate’s State Bureau of Identification (SBI) number, and the county
jail where the inmate is being detained, as well as any standard or
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specific conditions of release. Jails shall process the release of inmates
as efficiently as possible, understanding that neither immediate nor
simultaneous release is feasible.
1. For inmates serving a county jail sentence as a condition of
probation, the custodial portion of the sentence shall either be
served at the conclusion of the probationary portion of the
sentence or converted into a “time served” condition, at the
discretion of the sentencing judge, after input from counsel.
2. For inmates serving a county jail sentence as a result of a
municipal court conviction, the custodial portion of the
sentence shall be suspended until further order of this Court
upon the rescission of the Public Health Emergency declared
Executive Order No. 103, or deemed satisfied, at the
discretion of the sentencing judge, after input from counsel.
B. No later than noon on Thursday, March 26, 2020, except as provided in
paragraph C, any inmate serving a county jail sentence for any reason
other than those described in paragraph A shall be ordered released.
These sentences include, but are not limited to (1) a resentencing
following a finding of a violation of probation in any Superior Court or
municipal court, and (2) a county jail sentence not tethered to a
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probationary sentence for a fourth-degree crime, disorderly persons
offense, or petty disorderly persons offense in Superior Court. The
custodial portion of the sentence shall be suspended until further order
of this Court upon the rescission of the Public Health Emergency
declared Executive Order No. 103, or deemed satisfied, at the discretion
of the sentencing judge, after input from counsel. Jails shall process the
release of inmates as efficiently as possible, understanding that neither
immediate nor simultaneous release is feasible.
C. Where the County Prosecutor or Attorney General objects to the release
of an inmate described in Paragraph A, they shall file a written
objection no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 23, 2020. Where
the County Prosecutor or Attorney General objects to the release of an
inmate described in Paragraph B, they shall file a written objection no
later than 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 26, 2020.
1. The objection shall delay the order of release of the inmate and
shall explain why the release of the inmate would pose a
significant risk to the safety of the inmate or the public.
2. Written objections shall be filed by email to the Supreme Court
Emergent Matter inbox with a copy to the Office of the Public
Defender.
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3. The Office of the Public Defender shall provide provisional
representation to all inmates against whom an objection has
been lodged under this Paragraph.
4. The Office of the Public Defender shall, no later than 5:00 p.m.
on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, provide responses to any
objections to release associated with inmates described in
Paragraph A, as it deems appropriate. The Office of the Public
Defender shall, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 26,
2020, provide responses to any objections to release associated
with inmates described in Paragraph B, as it deems appropriate.
5. The Court shall appoint judge(s) or Special Master(s) to address
the cases in which an objection to release has been raised.
a. On or before Wednesday, March 25, 2020, the judge(s)
or Special Master(s) will begin considering disputed
cases arising from Paragraph A; on or before Friday,
March 27, 2020, the judge(s) or Special Master(s) will
consider disputed cases arising from Paragraph B.
i. The judge(s) or Special Master(s) shall conduct
summary proceedings, which shall be determined
on the papers. In the event the judge(s) or Special
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Master(s) conduct a hearing of any sort, inmates’
presence shall be waived.
ii. Release shall be presumed, unless the presumption
is overcome by a finding by a preponderance of
the evidence that the release of the inmate would
pose a significant risk to the safety of the inmate
or the public.
iii. At any point, the Prosecutor may withdraw its
objection by providing notice to the judge(s) or
Special Master(s) with a copy to the Office of the
Public Defender. In that case, inmates shall be
released subjected to the provisions of Paragraphs
D-I.
iv. If the judge(s) or Special Master(s) determine by
a preponderance of the evidence that the risk to the
safety of the inmate or the public can be
effectively managed, the judge(s) or Special
Master(s) shall order the inmate’s immediate
release, subject to the provisions of paragraphs D-
I.
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1. The Order of the judge(s) or Special
Master(s) may be appealed on an emergent
basis, in a summary manner to the
Appellate Division.
2. Should a release Order be appealed, the
release Order shall be stayed pending
expedited review by the Appellate Division.
3. The record on appeal shall consist of the
objection and response filed pursuant to this
Paragraph.
v. If the judge(s) or Special Master(s) determine by
a preponderance of the evidence that risks to the
safety of the inmate or the public cannot be
effectively managed, the judge(s) or Special
Master(s) shall order the inmate to serve the
balance of the original sentence.
1. The Order of the judge(s) or Special
Master(s) may be appealed on an emergent
basis, in a summary manner to the
Appellate Division.
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2. Should an Order requiring an inmate to
serve the balance of his sentence be
appealed, the Appellate Division shall
conduct expedited review.
3. The record on appeal shall consist of the
objection and response filed pursuant to this
Paragraph.
b. The judge(s) or Special Master(s) should endeavor to
address all objections no later than Friday, March 27,
2020.
D. Any warrants associated with an inmate subject to release under this
order, other than those associated with first-degree or second-degree
crimes, shall be suspended. Warrants suspended under this Order shall
remain suspended until ten days after the rescission of the Public Health
Emergency associated with COVID-19. See Executive Order No. 103
(2020) (Mar. 9, 2020).
E. In the following circumstances, the county jail shall not release an
inmate subject to release pursuant to Paragraphs A, B, or C(5)(a)(iii) or
(iv), absent additional instructions from the judge(s) or Special
Master(s):
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1. For any inmate who has tested positive for COVID-19 or has
been identified by the county jail as presumptively positive
for COVID-19, the county jail shall immediately notify the
parties and the County Health Department of the inmate’s
medical condition, and shall not release the inmate without
further instructions from the judge(s) or Special Master(s). In
such cases, the parties shall immediately confer with the
judge(s) or Special Master(s) to determine a plan for isolating
the inmate and ensuring the inmate’s medical treatment
and/or mandatory self-quarantine.
2. For any inmate who notifies the county jail that he or she does
not wish, based on safety, health, or housing concerns, to be
released from detention pursuant to this Consent Order, the
county jail shall immediately notify the parties of the inmate’s
wishes, and shall not release the inmate without further
instructions from the judge(s) or Special Master(s). In such
cases, the parties shall immediately confer with the judge(s)
or Special Master(s) to determine whether to release the
inmate over the inmate’s objection.
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F. Where an inmate is released pursuant to Paragraphs A, B, or C(5)(a)(iii)
or (iv), conditions, other than in-person reporting, originally imposed
by the trial court shall remain in full force and effect. County jails shall
inform all inmates, prior to their release, of their continuing obligation
to abide by conditions of probation designed to promote public safety.
Specifically:
1. No-contact orders shall remain in force.
2. Driver’s license suspensions remain in force.
3. Obligations to report to probation officers in-person shall be
converted to telephone or video reporting until further order of
this Court.
4. All inmates being released from county jails shall comply with
any Federal, State, and local laws, directives, orders, rules, and
regulations regarding conduct during the declared emergency.
Among other obligations, inmates being released from county
jails shall comply with Executive Order No. 107 (2020) (Mar.
21, 2020), which limits travel from people’s homes and
mandates “social distancing,” as well as any additional
Executive Orders issued by the Governor during the Public
Health Emergency associated with COVID-19.
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5. All inmates being released from county jails are encouraged to
self-quarantine for a period of fourteen (14) days.
6. Unless otherwise ordered by the judge(s) or Special Master(s),
any inmate being released from a county jail who appears to be
symptomatic for COVID-19 is ordered to self-quarantine for a
period of fourteen (14) days and follow all applicable New
Jersey Department of Health protocols for testing, treatment,
and quarantine or isolation.
G. County Prosecutors and other law enforcement agencies shall, to the
extent practicable, provide notice to victims of the accelerated release
of inmates.
1. In cases involving domestic violence, notification shall be
made. N.J.S.A. 2C:25-26.1. Law enforcement shall contact
the victim using the information provided on the “Victim
Notification Form.” Attorney General Law Enforcement
Directive No. 2005-5.
a. Where the information provided on the “Victim
Notification Form” does not allow for victim contact,
the Prosecutor shall notify the Attorney General.
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b. If the Attorney General, or his designee, is convinced
that law enforcement has exhausted all reasonable
efforts to contact the victim, he may relax the
obligations under N.J.S.A. 2C:25-26.1.
2. In other cases with a known victim, law enforcement shall
make all reasonable efforts to notify victims of the inmate’s
accelerated release.
3. To the extent permitted by law, the Attorney General agrees
to relax limitations on benefits under the Violent Crimes
Compensation Act (N.J.S.A. 52:4B-1, et seq.) to better
provide victims who encounter the need for safety, health,
financial, mental health or legal assistance from the State
Victims of Crime Compensation Office.
H. The Office of the Public Defender agrees to provide the jails
information to be distributed to each inmate prior to release that
includes:
1. Information about the social distancing practices and stay-at-
home guidelines set forth by Executive Order No. 107, as well
as other sanitary and hygiene practices that limit the spread of
COVID-19;
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2. Information about the terms and conditions of release
pursuant to this consent Order;
3. Guidance about how to contact the Office of the Public
Defender with any questions about how to obtain services
from social service organizations, including mental health
and drug treatment services or any other questions pertinent
to release under this consent Order.
I. Any inmate released pursuant to this Order shall receive a copy of this
Order, as well as a copy of any other Order that orders their release
from county jail, prior to their release.
J. Relief pursuant to this Order is limited to the temporary suspension of
custodial jail sentences; any further relief requires an application to the
sentencing court.
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3/22/2020 9:50 p.m. /s/Stuart Rabner Date Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, for the Court The undersigned hereby consents to the form and entry of the foregoing Order.
3/22/2020 /s/Gurbir S. Grewal Date Office of the Attorney General 3/22/2020 /s/Angelo J. Onofri
Date County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey 3/22/2020 /s/Joseph E. Krakora Date Office of the Public Defender
3/22/2020 /s/Alexander Shalom Date American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
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CURRICULUM VITAE
JOE GOLDENSON, MD 1406 CYPRESS STREET BERKELEY, CA 94703
(510) 557-1086 [email protected]
EDUCATION Post Graduate Training February 1992 University of California, San Francisco, CPAT/APEX
Mini-Residency in HIV Care 1979-1980 Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship in Family Practice 1976-1979 University of California, San Francisco
Residency in Family Practice Medical School 1973-1975 Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York
M.D. Degree 1971-1973 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Undergraduate Education 1967-1971 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
B.A. in Psychology PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Practice Experience 1993-2015 Director/Medical Director
Jail Health Services San Francisco Department of Public Health
1991-1993 Medical Director Jail Health Services San Francisco Department of Public Health
1990-1991 Chief of Medical Services, Hall of Justice Jail Health Services San Francisco Department of Public Health
1987-1990 Staff Physician Jail Health Services San Francisco Department of Public Health
1980-1987 Sabbatical 1975-1976 Staff Physician
United Farm Workers Health Center, Salinas, CA
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Consulting 6/16-8/19 4/02-Present 6/14-9/14 6/10-12/13
Consultant to Los Angeles Department of Health Services re: provision of health care services in the LA County Jail Federal Court Medical Expert, Plata v. Newsome, Class Action Lawsuit re: prisoner medical care in California State Prison System Medical expert for the Illinois Department of Corrections and the ACLU of Illinois Federal Court appointed Medical Monitor, U.S.A. v. Cook County, et al., United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 10 C 2946, re: medical care in the Cook County Jail
6/08-6/12 Member, Plata v. Schwarzenegger Advisory Board to the Honorable Thelton E. Henderson, U.S. District Court Judge
5/08-9/09 Medical Expert for ACLU re Maricopa County Jail, Phoenix, AZ 1/08 Member of the National Commission on Correctional Health
Care’s Technical Assistance Review Team for the Miami Dade Department of Corrections
9/07-1/10 Federal Court appointed Medical Expert, Herrera v. Pierce County, et al., re: medical care at the Pierce County Jail, Tacoma, WA
8/06-8/12 State Court Appointed Medical Expert, Farrell v. Allen, Superior Court of California Consent Decree re medical care in the California Department of Juvenile Justice
6/05 Member of Technical Assistance Review Team for the Dallas County Jail
11/02-4/03 Medical Expert for ACLU re Jefferson County Jail, Port Townsend, Washington
4/02-8/06 Federal Court Medical Expert, Austin, et. al vs Wilkinson, et al, Class Action Law Suit re: Prisoner medical care at the Ohio State Penitentiary Supermax Facility
1/02-3/02 Consultant to the Francis J. Curry, National Tuberculosis Center re: Tuberculosis Control Plan for the Jail Setting: A Template (Jail Template),
8/01-4/02 Medical Expert for ACLU re Wisconsin Supermax Correctional Facility, Boscobel, WI
7/01-4/02 Medical Expert for Ohio Attorney General’s Office re Ohio State Prison, Youngstown, OH
1/96-1/14 Member and Surveyor, California Medical Association Corrections and Detentions Health Care Committee
5/95-6/08 Medical Expert for the Office of the Special Master, Madrid vs Alameida, Federal Class Action Law Suit re: Prisoner medical care at the Pelican Bay State Prison Supermax Facility
3/98-12/98 Member, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Jail Health Services Task Force
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2/98 Medical Expert, Department of Justice Investigation of Clark County Detention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
6/94 Surveyor, National Commission on Correctional Health Care, INS Detention Center, El Centro, CA
Work Related Committees 1/14 to present 10/11 to 5/19
Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Correctional Health Care Report Member, Board of Directors of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care
5/07-10/12 Liaison to the CDC Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET) from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care
12/04-3/06 Member of the CDC Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET) Ad Hoc Working Group on the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Correctional and Detention Facilities: Recommendations from CDC (MMWR 2006; 55(No. RR-9))
6/03-8/03 Member of the Advisory Panel for the Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center and National Commission on Correctional Health Care, 2003: Corrections Tuberculosis Training and Education Resource Guide
3/02-1/03 Member of the Advisory Committee to Develop the Tuberculosis Control Plan for the Jail Setting: A Template (Jail Template), Francis J. Curry, National Tuberculosis Center
6/01-1/15 Director’s Cabinet San Francisco Department of Public Health
3/01 Consultant to Centers for Disease Control on the Prevention and Control of Infections with Hepatitis Viruses in Correctional Settings (MMWR 2003; 52(No. RR-1))
9/97-6/02 Member, Executive Committee of Medical Practice Group, San Francisco Department of Public Health
3/97-3/02 American Correctional Health Services Association Liaison with American Public Health Association
3/96-6/12 Chairperson, Bay Area Corrections Committee (on tuberculosis) 2/00-12/00 Medical Providers’ Subcommittee of the Office-based Opiate
Treatment Program, San Francisco Department of public Health 12/98-12/00 Associate Chairperson, Corrections Sub-Committee, California
Tuberculosis Elimination Advisory Committee 7/94-7/96 Advisory Committee for the Control And Elimination of
Tuberculosis, San Francisco Department of Public Health 6/93-6/95 Managed Care Clinical Implementation Committee, San
Francisco Department of Public Health 2/92-2/96 Tuberculosis Control Task Force, San Francisco Department of
Public Health 3/90-7/97 San Francisco General Hospital Blood Borne Pathogen
Committee
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1/93-7/93 Medical Staff Bylaws Committee, San Francisco Department of Public Health
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT 1980-2015 Assistant Clinical Professor University of California, San Francisco PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Society of Correctional Physicians, Member of President’s Council, Past-Treasurer and Secretary American Correctional Health Services Association, Past-President of California Chapter American Public Health Association, Jails and Prison’s Subcommittee Academy of Correctional Health Professionals PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS Caring for the Inmate Health Population: A Public Health Imperative, Correctional Health
Care Leadership Institutes, July 2015
Correctional Medicine and Community Health, Society of Correctional Physicians Annual
Meeting, October, 2014
Identifying Pulmonary TB in Jails: A Roundtable Discussion, National Commission on
Correctional Health Care Annual Conference, October 31, 2006
A Community Health Approach to Correctional Health Care, Society of Correctional
Physicians, October 29, 2006 Prisoners the Unwanted and Underserved Population, Why Public Health Should Be in Jail, San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, Medical Grand Rounds, 10/12/04 TB in Jail: A Contact Investigation Course, Legal and Administrative Responsibilities, Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center, 10/7/04 Public Health and Correctional Medicine, American Public Health Association Annual Conference, 11/19/2003 Hepatitis in Corrections, CA/NV Chapter, American Correctional Health Services Association Annual Meeting, 1/17/02 Correctional Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, Medical Grand Rounds, 12/16/02 SuperMax Prisons, American Public Health Association Annual Conference, 11/8/01 Chronic Care Programs in Corrections, CA/NV Chapter, American Correctional Health Services Association Annual Meeting, 9/19/02 Tuberculosis in Corrections - Continuity of Care, California Tuberculosis Controllers Association Spring Conference, 5/12/98 HIV Care Incarcerated in Incarcerated Populations, UCSF Clinical Care of the AIDS Patient Conference, 12/5/97 Tuberculosis in Correctional Facilities, Pennsylvania AIDS Education and Training Center, 3/25/93
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Tuberculosis Control in Jails, AIDS and Prison Conference, 10/15/93 The Interface of Public Health and Correctional Health Care, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, 10/26/93 HIV Education for Correctional Health Care Workers, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, 10/26/93 PUBLICATIONS Structure and Administration of a Jail Medical Program. Correctional Health Care: Practice, Administration, and Law. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute. 2017. Structure and Administration of a Jail Medical Program – Part II. Correctional Health Care Report. Volume 16, No. 2, January-February 2015. Structure and Administration of a Jail Medical Program – Part I. Correctional Health Care Report. Volume 16, No. 1, November-December 2014. Pain Behind Bars: The Epidemiology of Pain in Older Jail Inmates in a County Jail. Journal of Palliative Medicine. 09/2014; DOI: 10.1089/jpm.2014.0160 Older jail inmates and community acute care use. Am J Public Health. 2014 Sep; 104(9):1728-33. Correctional Health Care Must be Recognized as an Integral Part of the Public Health
Sector, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, February Supplement 2009, Vol. 36, No. 2,
p.S3–S4
Use of sentinel surveillance and geographic information systems to monitor trends in HIV prevalence, incidence, and related risk behavior among women undergoing syphilis screening in a jail setting. Journal of Urban Health 10/2008; 86(1):79-92.
Discharge Planning and Continuity of Health Care: Findings From the San Francisco County Jail, American Journal of Public Health,98:2182–2184, 2008
Public Health Behind Bars, Deputy Editor, Springer, 2007 Diabetes Care in the San Francisco County Jail, American Journal of Public Health, 96:1571-73, 2006
Clinical Practice in Correctional Medicine, 2nd Edition, Associate Editor, Mosby, 2006. Tuberculosis in the Correctional Facility, Mark Lobato, MD and Joe Goldenson, MD, Clinical Practice in Correctional Medicine, 2nd Edition, Mosby, 2006. Incidence of TB in inmates with latent TB infection: 5-year follow-up. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 11/2005; 29(4):295-301.
Cancer Screening Among Jail Inmates: Frequency, Knowledge, and Willingness
Am J Public Health. 2005 October; 95(10): 1781–1787
Improving tuberculosis therapy completion after jail: translation of research to practice. Health Education Research. 05/2005; 20(2):163-74. Incidence of TB in Inmates with Latent TB Infection, 5-Year Follow-up, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29(4), 2005
Prevention and Control of Infections with Hepatitis Viruses in Correctional Settings, Morbidity and Mortality Reports, (External Consultant to Centers for Disease Control),Vol. 52/No. RR-1 January 24, 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial of Interventions to Improve Follow-up for Latent
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Tuberculosis Infection After Release from Jail, Archives of Internal Medicine, 162:1044-1050, 2002 Jail Inmates and HIV care: provision of antiretroviral therapy and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia prophylaxis, International Journal of STD & AIDS; 12: 380-385, 2001
Tuberculosis Prevalence in an urban jail: 1994 and 1998, International Journal of Tuberculosis Lung Disease, 5(5):400-404, 2001
Screening for Tuberculosis in Jail and Clinic Follow-up after Release, American Journal of Public Health, 88(2):223-226, 1998
A Clinical Trial of a Financial Incentive to Go to the Tuberculosis Clinic for Isoniazid after Release from Jail, International Journal of Tuberculosis Lung Disease, 2(6):506-512,1998
AWARDS Armond Start Award of Excellence, Society of Correctional Physicians, 2014 Award of Honor, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 2014 Award of Honor, San Francisco Health Commission, 2014 Certificate of Appreciation, San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, 2014 Certificate for Excellence in Teaching, California Department of Health Services, 2002 Employee Recognition Award, San Francisco Health Commission, July 2000 Public Managerial Excellence Award, Certificate of Merit, San Francisco, 1997 LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION Medical Board of California, Certificate #A32488 Fellow, Society of Correctional Physicians Board Certified in Family Practice, 1979-1986 (Currently Board Eligible)
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